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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > October > 30 > Entry
Poll: College students plan to vote - for Obama
See below. Now my question: Is this a surprise to anyone?
Press release from Miami University:
OXFORD, Ohio - According to a new national poll, 98 percent of Miami University students surveyed are registered to vote, 87 percent of them say they plan to cast a ballot, and 59 percent of them plan to vote for Barack Obama compared to 37 percent for John McCain.
Students at Miami and 12 other universities throughout Ohio are part of a youth election vote poll conducted by CBS News, The Chronicle of Higher Education and UWIRE, a wire service that provides news to college campuses. At Miami, 356 students responded to the poll. The online survey also included students from three other battleground states; Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Colorado.
Of the nearly 25,000 students polled at four-year colleges and universities, more than 60 percent in each state (61 percent in Ohio) preferred the Obama-Biden ticket to McCain-Palin.
In line with the total Ohio results, the economy is the most important concern for Miami students with 94 percent saying it’s an extremely to very important issue. As economic issues dominate the rhetoric on the campaign trail, a large majority of all the students surveyed (61 percent in Pennsylvania and Colorado, 56 percent in Ohio and 58 percent in North Carolina) said Obama had the best plan to resolve the country’s economic woes. Between 23 and 28 percent said McCain had the better economic plan.
“The students appear to be highly engaged with the 2008 campaign,” said Bryan Marshall, associate professor of political science at Miami and an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow for 2008-09. “Their concerns on issues seem to parallel national trends, especially reflecting concerns over the economy. And the poll suggests that the young relate disproportionately better to Obama as compared to McCain, appear to trust Obama more to deal with the major issues, and think that Obama can deliver change more so than McCain.”
Miami students surveyed, like their Ohio counterparts, rated Obama more highly than McCain on all but one candidate quality measured in the poll. For example:
- Is someone you can relate to: Obama, 62 percent/ McCain, 32 percent
- Would bring about real change: Obama, 69 percent/ McCain, 37 percent
- Effective commander in chief: Obama, 46 percent/ McCain ,79 percent
- Cares about people like you: Obama, 76 percent/ McCain, 47 percent
- If elected, will make a difference in your life for the better: Obama, 47 percent/ McCain, 27 percent
- Will improve the image of the U.S. in the world: Obama, 67 percent/ McCain, 22 percent
As for the vice presidential candidates, 49 percent of Miami students surveyed said they “don’t much like” Palin compared to nearly 18 percent who responded that they “don’t much like” Biden.
As for party affiliation, Miami respondents self-identified as 37 percent Republican, 36 percent Democrat and 26 percent Independent. Thirty-two percent said their political philosophy is liberal to 43 percent being moderate and 24 percent as conservative.
Pollsters contacted 1,000 Miami students randomly and had a 35 percent response rate. For complete results of the Miami student survey, contact Linda Robertson at (513) 529-7595 or linda.robertson@muohio.edu. For complete results of the four-state survey, click on http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/081027_uwire.pdf.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Presidential race
Comments
By deirdre
October 30, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this
I went to MU twenty years ago and it surprises the hell out of me. The Reagan Revolution was in full swing and I’d never been around so many utterly heartless conservatives in my life. You had to brace yourself before admitting you were a liberal. Nice to know some things DO change. But one thing doesn’t, I guess — college students on the forefront of change in the US.