Washington Post Virginia Poll, October 2008

This special topic poll, fielded October 22-25, 2008, focuses on the opinions of 1,026 residents of the state of Virginia including an oversample of respondents aged 18-29. Respondents were asked if they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling his job as president, how much attention they were paying to the 2008 presidential campaign, the chances that they would vote in the presidential election, for whom they would vote if the election were held that day, their opinions of the presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and their running mates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, the most important issue in their choice for president, how comfortable they would be having Obama being the first Black president and having McCain taking office at the age of 72, and whether they had been contacted by the either of the candidates via email, phone, text message, or in person to solicit their support. Respondents were also asked for their opinions of senatorial candidates Jim Gilmore and Mark Warner, for whom they would vote if the United States Senate election in Virginia were held that day, whether they wanted to see a Democrat or Republican win Virginia's governor's race in 2009 , and for whom they would vote in Virginia's Democratic primary for governor. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, household income, employment status, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, religious preference, frequency of religious service attendance, whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christians, and whether respondents had children under the age of 18 years living in the household, whether their child attended a public or private school, and whether anyone in the household was a military veteran.