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.本次专题民意调查于2008年10月22日至25日开展，调研对象为1026名弗吉尼亚州居民，其中包含18至29岁群体的过采样样本。调研对象被问及的问题包括：是否认可乔治·W·布什（George W. Bush）的总统履职表现、对2008年总统竞选的关注程度、参与总统选举的投票意愿、若当日举行选举将投予哪位候选人、对总统候选人巴拉克·奥巴马（Barack Obama）与约翰·麦凯恩（John McCain）及其竞选搭档乔·拜登（Joe Biden）、萨拉·佩林（Sarah Palin）的评价、选择总统候选人时最看重的议题、对奥巴马成为美国首位黑人总统以及麦凯恩以72岁高龄就职的接受程度，以及是否曾通过电子邮件、电话、短信或当面方式收到候选人的拉票联系。此外，调研对象还被问及对参议员候选人吉姆·吉尔摩（Jim Gilmore）与马克·华纳（Mark Warner）的评价、若当日举行弗吉尼亚州联邦参议院选举将投予哪位候选人、是否希望民主党或共和党赢得2009年弗吉尼亚州州长选举，以及在弗吉尼亚州州长民主党初选中的意向投票对象。本次调研的人口统计学变量包括：性别、年龄、种族、受教育程度、婚姻状况、家庭收入、就业状态、政党归属、政治倾向、选民登记状态与投票参与历史、宗教偏好、宗教仪式出席频率、是否自认为重生基督徒、家中是否有18岁以下子女、子女就读公立还是私立学校，以及家庭成员中是否有退伍军人。