Most polls of the Senate race up until now have given Udall a slightly larger margin, though Schaffer has closed the gap in the past month. Schaffer manager Dick Wadhams said the poll results are another indication that "it'll be a close race to the finish."
Wadhams also said the numbers were "solid and reliable because (David Hill) has probably done more campaigns in Colorado in the last 18 years than anybody in America.
"He's a very reputable pollster who'll not tell a client what the client wants to hear; he tells the client what is real and what truly exists," Wadhams said. . . . "Colorado is one of the most important battleground states that will decide the presidency as Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama slug it out nose to nose. If the national election is close in November, a handful of votes in Colorado will be decisive," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Right now, independent voters are split with 46 percent for Sen. McCain and 44 percent for Sen. Obama.
"Who wins the election may wind up depending on whether voters look inward to the economy and fuel prices or outward to world hot spots."
"The favorability ratings are significant because they show that McCain has made a good impression on voters, even some who may not be for him at this point," Brown said.
"It's likely that between now and Election Day voter opinion will sway back and forth at the margins. It would be surprising if Obama did not enjoy some kind of short-term bump from the convention being held in Denver."
McCain leads 55 - 38 percent among men, 52 - 42 percent among white voters and 70 - 22 percent among evangelical Christians. A political battle for the ages may become a battle of the ages.
Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are neck-and-neck in Colorado, solidifying the state as a key, swing area that will be pivotal in deciding who becomes the next president of the U.S., according to a Rocky Mountain News/CBS4 News poll released Friday.
"It's a heck of a horse race in Colorado," said pollster Lori Weigel. "We're officially a purple state now."
The poll revealed sharp divisions among voters by age and geography, with the candidates' approaches to economic issues a key to winning the state.
"There is a huge generational divide," said analyst Craig Hughes, who consulted on the poll. "You really are poised to see this battle of the ages, where this youth vote can swing it." Colorado voters say it�s more important to find new sources of energy than it is to reduce the energy we consume. Sixty-five percent (65%) say finding new energy should be the top priority while 27% prefer reducing our energy consumption. Nationally, voters believe McCain is more interested in finding new energy sources while Obama wants to reduce consumption. A related survey found that most voters believe members of Congress should return to Washington immediately to vote on allowing offshore oil drilling.
In another finding that mirrors the national mood, 51% of Colorado voters say that media bias is a bigger problem in politics today than large campaign donors. They hold this view even though 63% believe most politicians will break the rules to help their donors. Forty percent (40%) believe McCain is too influenced by lobbyists and donors; 38% say the same about Obama.
Frustration with the media has convinced 47% of voters nationally that the government should mandate balanced political coverage on radio and television. Thirty-one percent (31%) believe these requirements should be mandated for bloggers and web sites as well. Half the nation�s voters believe that most reporters are trying to help Obama win this fall while hardly any believe reporters are trying to help McCain.
Fifty-five percent (55%) of Colorado voters currently favor the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, which will be on the ballot in November as Amendment 46. Like similar efforts in Arizona and Nebraska, it proposes an amendment to the state constitution that would prohibit preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity in public hiring and contracting and in state school admissions. Nationally, voters have mixed feelings on affirmative action programs. �The story in Colorado continues to be Barack Obama�s competitiveness among white voters,� said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. �He�s virtually tied with John McCain among them, and given that he continues to show a strong advantage among the state�s Hispanic voters, if he can secure a draw there he�s almost definitely going to win the state.�
McCain leads just 48-46 with white voters, while Obama has a 51-36 edge with Hispanics. Both candidates are polling in the mid-80s among folks within their parties while Obama is leading 50-35 with independents. Men: Obama 28, McCain 50. Women: Obama 52, McCain 27. The latest polls of voters in Colorado show John McCain and Barack Obama in a tight race.
The Keith Frederick poll of 700 Colorado voters release Thursday afternoon showed Obama with 45 percent and McCain with 41 percent. Fourteen percent were undecided. Obama leads 50 - 39 percent among Colorado women likely voters, while men back McCain 55 - 37 percent. White voters back McCain 51 - 41 percent as Hispanic voters go with Obama 57 - 29 percent. Obama leads 51 - 43 percent with voters 18 to 34 years old, while voters 35 to 54 are tied 46 - 46 percent. McCain leads 51 - 37 percent among voters over 55. Obama now attracts the votes from 87% of Democrats, that up ten points over the past month. McCain earns the vote from 88% of Republicans, a six-point gain over the past month. Among unaffiliated voters, Obama leads by just four points. That�s down from seventeen points a month ago.
Although Obama leads in the polling, McCain is better liked�61% of Colorado voters have a favorable opinion of the southwestern Senator. Just 52% have a similar opinion about the Senator from Illinois.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of Colorado voters believe most reporters are trying to help Barack Obama win the election. Just 11% believe the reporters are trying to help McCain and only 24% believe the journalists are trying to provide unbiased coverage. The national figures are very similar.
Colorado has gone Republican in the last three presidential contests, reelecting George W. Bush in 2004 by five percentage points. Over the past forty years, Colorado has cast its Electoral Votes for the Democrats just once�for Bill Clinton in 1992. But Obama and his party have targeted it as a swing state this year. Democrats also have a good chance of picking up a Senate seat in Colorado this year. �Colorado is trending Democratic,� said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. �A key thing to watch this fall will be what percentage of the state�s electorate Hispanics comprise. The higher that number is, the more likely it will be that Barack Obama is victorious.�
Obama is leading among independent voters in the state by a margin of 50-30. He also leads with every age group except those over 65. . . . .
