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Burlington, Vermont - October 27, 2008
Hit the streets and it's clear who many Vermonters like for President.
"I feel McCain is more Bush -- and I like Obama," said Amy Nichols, of Cambridge.
"I'm definitely voting for Obama," agreed Diana Pirolo, of Burlington. "His viewpoints are just how I see things and it's time for a change."
"Obama, I reckon," said Ruben Bowen, of Burlington.
"I voted for McCain -- I think he is more honest," said Olya Hopkins, of Brandon. "We are a minority in Vermont."
She's right.
Of 400 Vermonters polled by Research 2000 for an exclusive Channel 3 News poll, Obama gets 57 percent of the vote, McCain gets 36 percent.
"I believe the change argument that Obama is making is one that appeals to a lot of Vermonters-- there is a lot of discontent with the way things are going in the country and Obama is presenting himself as someone who will bring a new approach and new vision to Washington," political scientist Eric Davis explained.
Obama has gained two percentage points over Channel 3's last poll last month. McCain has stayed steady.
Davis said he thinks McCain's message is not resonating in Vermont for two reasons.
"First of all, the economic crisis has hurt Republicans from McCain to much lower on the ballot. But second, in the past 8 weeks or so, it seems McCain has spent more time focusing on the Republican base and less time focusing on swing voters and independents," Davis said.
With such a competitive race being fought across the country, Vermont's three electoral votes have not gotten a lot of attention from either candidate.
"We have only three electoral votes and just about every analyst from the beginning of the campaign would have said that those three electoral votes would have been in the Obama column," Davis said.
So what are the issues driving people to vote? Channel 3 asked and the top issue is the economy, with a strong 44 percent saying that's the number one problem determining their vote for president. Next is health care and third is the Iraq War. That is a big turnaround from previous polls when the war in Iraq was one of the top concerns impacting people's vote.
Kristin Carlson - WCAX News
