ABC News/Washington Post Monthly Poll, October 2008

This poll, fielded October 8-11, 2008, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. A national sample of 1,101 adults was surveyed, including oversamples of African Americans and 18- to 29-year-olds, for a total of 150 African American respondents and 201 respondents aged 18 to 29 years. Respondents were asked whether the Democratic or Republican party could be trusted to do a better job coping with the main problems the nation would face over the next few years. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling his job as president, whether things in the country were going in the right direction, and how concerned they were about the national economy. Views were sought on whether the Democratic or Republican party could be trusted to do a better job coping with the main problems the nation would face over the next few years. Respondents were also asked how closely they were following the 2008 presidential race, their opinions of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, for whom they would vote in the general election in November, which candidate had the best chance of getting elected, and how comfortable respondents would be with a president who was African American and a president over the age of 72.
Economic topics addressed how concerned respondents were that they could maintain their current standard of living, the most difficult economic issue affecting their family, particularly personal finances, the stock market, and the ability to obtain bank loans. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, political party affiliation, voter registration status and participation history, political philosophy, education level, religious preference, military service, household income, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

本次民调于2008年10月8日至11日实施，属于持续开展的月度调查系列的一部分，旨在征集公众对总统任期及一系列其他政治与社会议题的舆论看法。本次调查共抽取1101名成年国民作为全国受访样本，并针对非裔美国人与18至29岁群体实施过抽样（oversample），最终非裔受访者共计150人，18至29岁受访者共计201人。
受访对象首先被询问民主党与共和党中哪一方更能妥善应对美国未来数年面临的核心难题；随后被问及对乔治·W·布什总统执政表现的认可度、国家现状是否正朝着正确方向发展，以及对国民经济的担忧程度，此外还再次调研了受访者对两党妥善应对美国未来数年核心难题的信任倾向。
受访对象还被问及关注2008年总统竞选的程度、对总统候选人巴拉克·奥巴马与约翰·麦凯恩的看法、11月大选的投票意向、哪位候选人当选概率最高，以及对非裔总统与72岁以上总统的接受程度。
本次调查涉及的经济类议题包括：受访者对维持当前生活水平的担忧程度、影响家庭的最棘手经济问题，具体涵盖个人财务、股票市场与获取银行贷款的能力。
本次调查收集的人口统计变量包括：性别、年龄、种族、婚姻状况、政党归属、选民登记状态与参与历史、政治立场、受教育程度、宗教偏好、兵役经历、家庭收入、居住区域类型（如城市或乡村），以及受访者是否为重生基督徒。