ABC News/Washington Post Monthly Poll, May 2008

This poll, fielded May 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 1,122 adults was surveyed, including an oversample of African Americans, for a total of 206 African American respondents. Views were sought on how well George W. Bush was handling the presidency, whether the country was moving in the right direction, and 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 how closely they were following the 2008 presidential race, their opinions of presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, 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, a president who was a woman, and a president over the age of 72. Other questions asked whether Hillary Clinton should drop out of the Democratic primary, whether Democrats would be able to unite if Obama were nominated, and who Obama and McCain should choose as vice presidential running mates if nominated by their parties. Additional topics addressed the controversy over comments made by Barack Obama's minister, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, how concerned respondents were that they could maintain their current standard of living, the most difficult economic issue affecting their family, particularly recent increases in the price of gasoline, and whether they supported a summer suspension of the federal gasoline tax. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, marital status, political party affiliation, voter registration status, political philosophy, education level, religious preference, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

本项民意调查于2008年5月8日至11日开展，属于持续开展的系列月度调查的一部分，该系列调查旨在收集公众对总统履职表现以及一系列其他政治与社会议题的看法。本次调查的全国性样本涵盖1122名成年受访者，其中针对非裔美国人进行了过采样（oversample），最终非裔受访者总人数达206人。调查围绕以下内容收集了受访者看法：乔治·W·布什（George W. Bush）的总统履职表现评价、美国是否正朝着正确方向发展、民主党与共和党中哪一方更值得信赖以更好应对未来数年美国面临的核心问题。受访者还被问及：对2008年总统竞选的关注程度、对总统候选人巴拉克·奥巴马（Barack Obama）、希拉里·克林顿（Hillary Clinton）及约翰·麦凯恩（John McCain）的看法、11月大选的投票意向、哪位候选人获胜概率最高，以及受访者对非裔总统、女性总统与72岁以上总统的接受程度。其他调查问题包括：希拉里·克林顿是否应当退出民主党初选、若奥巴马获得提名民主党能否实现团结，以及奥巴马与麦凯恩若获本党提名，应分别选择哪位人士作为副总统竞选搭档。其余调研议题涵盖巴拉克·奥巴马的牧师杰里迈亚·赖特（Reverend Jeremiah Wright）发表言论引发的争议、受访者对维持当前生活水平的担忧程度、影响家庭的最严峻经济问题（尤其是近期汽油价格上涨），以及是否支持在夏季暂停征收联邦汽油税。本次调查的人口统计学变量涵盖性别、年龄、种族、婚姻状况、政党归属、选民登记状态、政治倾向、受教育程度、宗教偏好，以及受访者是否自认为重生基督徒（born-again Christian）。