Results and data | Sept. 18, 2008
Illinois
Results for select poll questions:
Question 4
How much of the time do you think you can trust the federal government in Washington to do what is right? Just about always, most of the time, only some of the time, or never?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Just about always | 13 | 2.1% |
| Most of the Time | 123 | 19.6% |
| Only Some of the Time | 394 | 62.8% |
| Never | 80 | 12.7% |
| Don’t know/refused | 17 | 2.7% |
Question 5
Thinking about things in the United States, do you think things in the country are generally going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten off on the wrong track?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 89 | 14.2% |
| Wrong track | 505 | 80.4% |
| Don’t know/refused | 34 | 5.3% |
Question 6
Thinking about things in Illinois, do you think things in Illinois are generally going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten off on the wrong track?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 100 | 15.9% |
| Wrong track | 484 | 77.1% |
| Don’t know/refused | 44 | 7.1% |
Question 7
Would you say that over the past year the nation’s economy has gotten better, stayed about the same or gotten worse?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Gotten better | 17 | 2.7% |
| Stayed about the same | 65 | 10.4% |
| Gotten worse | 544 | 86.6% |
| Don’t know/refused | 2 | .3% |
The questions about favorability for Obama, McCain, Biden, Palin, and Bush were rotated — that is, they were asked in a random order to each individual respondent.
Question 9
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Barack Obama?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 273 | 43.6% |
| Somewhat favorable | 141 | 22.4% |
| Very unfavorable | 120 | 19.1% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 64 | 10.2% |
| Don’t know/refused | 30 | 4.8% |
Question 10
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of George W. Bush?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 44 | 7.0% |
| Somewhat favorable | 143 | 22.8% |
| Very unfavorable | 336 | 53.5% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 88 | 14.0% |
| Don’t know/refused | 17 | 2.8% |
Question 11
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of John McCain?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 134 | 21.4% |
| Somewhat favorable | 195 | 31.1% |
| Very unfavorable | 163 | 26.0% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 106 | 16.8% |
| Don’t know/refused | 29 | 4.6% |
Question 12
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Joe Biden?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 146 | 23.2% |
| Somewhat favorable | 208 | 33.2% |
| Very unfavorable | 72 | 11.5% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 83 | 13.2% |
| Don’t know/refused | 118 | 18.8% |
Question 13
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Sarah Palin?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 137 | 21.9% |
| Somewhat favorable | 130 | 20.7% |
| Very unfavorable | 155 | 24.7% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 106 | 16.8% |
| Don’t know/refused | 99 | 15.9% |
Question 14
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Hillary Clinton?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 171 | 27.3% |
| Somewhat favorable | 217 | 34.7% |
| Very unfavorable | 116 | 18.4% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 95 | 15.1% |
| Don’t know/refused | 28 | 4.5% |
Question 15
If the 2008 presidential election were being held today and the candidates were Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the Democrats, and John McCain and Sarah Palin, the Republicans, for whom would you vote?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Obama/Biden | 306 | 48.7% |
| McCain/Palin | 214 | 34.1% |
| Other | 13 | 2.1% |
| Undecided | 59 | 9.4% |
| Refused | 36 | 5.7% |
Question 15a
If undecided, which way do you lean?
| N=95 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Obama/Biden | 27 | 28.0% |
| McCain/Palin | 18 | 19.3% |
| Undecided | 35 | 37.3% |
| Refused | 15 | 15.5% |
Cumulative results from question 15 and 15a
Decided voters and undecided voters who are leaning one way or another.
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Obama/Biden | 332 | 52.9% |
| McCain/Palin | 232 | 37.0% |
| Other | 13 | 2.1% |
| Undecided | 35 | 5.6% |
| Refused | 15 | 2.3% |
Questions 16-18: I’m going to read you a list of words and phrases that people sometimes use to describe political leaders. Please tell me who the following words and phrases describe better: Barack Obama or John McCain?
Question 16
Can bring about change
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Barack Obama | 371 | 59.1% |
| John McCain | 167 | 26.6% |
| Same | 25 | 3.9% |
| Don’t know/refused | 65 | 10.4% |
Question 17
Shares my values
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Barack Obama | 310 | 49.4% |
| John McCain | 235 | 37.4% |
| Same | 21 | 3.3% |
| Don’t know/refused | 62 | 9.9% |
Question 18
Experienced
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Barack Obama | 134 | 21.4% |
| John McCain | 422 | 67.3% |
| Same | 18 | 2.9% |
| Don’t know/refused | 53 | 8.4% |
Question 20
When it comes to the war in Iraq, which of the following statements comes closer to your point of view?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| The most responsible thing we can do is to set a firm deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops within the next 16 months. | 361 | 57.5% |
| The most responsible thing we can do is to remain in Iraq until the situation in the country is stable. | 216 | 34.4% |
| Unsure | 30 | 4.7% |
| Don’t know/refused | 21 | 3.3% |
Question 21
What is your personal feeling about abortion? (1) It should be permitted in all cases. (2) It should be permitted, but subject to greater restrictions than it is now. (3) It should be permitted only in cases such as rape, incest and to save the woman's life. OR, (4) It should only be permitted to save the woman's life?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Permitted in all cases | 196 | 31.3% |
| Permitted, but with greater restrictions | 101 | 16.1% |
| Permitted only in cases such as rape, incest, to save the woman's life | 161 | 25.7% |
| Only permitted to save the woman's life | 76 | 12.1% |
| Never | 37 | 5.8% |
| Don’t know/refused | 57 | 9.0% |
Illinois-specific questions
Questions 23a-c: Each respondent was randomly assigned one of the three questions with equal probability.
Question 23a
Next we have a question about a proposal aimed at combating the threat of terrorism. The proposal is to relieve law enforcement officials of the burden of obtaining search warrants for searches of the homes of suspected terrorists. Do you…
| N=193 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Strongly approve of this proposal | 46 | 23.8% |
| Somewhat approve | 43 | 22.2% |
| Somewhat disapprove | 40 | 20.5% |
| Strongly disapprove | 55 | 28.6% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 2 | 1.2% |
| Don’t know/refused | 7 | 3.7% |
Question 23b
Next we have a question about a proposal aimed at combating the threat of serious crime. The proposal is to relieve law enforcement officials of the burden of obtaining search warrants for searches of the homes of persons suspected of serious crimes. Do you…
| N=214 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Strongly approve of this proposal | 44 | 20.8% |
| Somewhat approve | 50 | 23.4% |
| Somewhat disapprove | 25 | 11.7% |
| Strongly disapprove | 80 | 37.2% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 4 | 1.9% |
| Don’t know/refused | 11 | 5.0% |
Question 23c
Next we have a question about a proposal aimed at law enforcement. The proposal is to relieve law enforcement officials of the burden of obtaining search warrants for searches of people’s homes. Do you…
| N=221 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Strongly approve of this proposal | 13 | 6.1% |
| Somewhat approve | 29 | 13.1% |
| Somewhat disapprove | 31 | 14.2% |
| Strongly disapprove | 126 | 57.2% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 8 | 3.6% |
| Don’t know/refused | 13 | 5.9% |
Questions 26-27: Next, I’m going to read you a number of statements, and for each one, I’d like you to tell me whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree with that statement.
Question 26
What happens to people from my racial or ethnic group in this country has something to do with what happens in my life.
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Strongly agree | 136 | 21.7% |
| Somewhat agree | 207 | 32.9% |
| Somewhat disagree | 109 | 17.4% |
| Strongly disagree | 110 | 17.5% |
| Don’t know/refused | 66 | 10.5% |
Question 27
For the advancement of women in politics, partisanship should be secondary to the consideration of voting for a woman.
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Strongly agree | 147 | 23.4% |
| Somewhat agree | 159 | 25.4% |
| Somewhat disagree | 122 | 19.5% |
| Strongly disagree | 120 | 19.1% |
| Don’t know/refused | 79 | 12.6% |
Question 28
Now I want to ask you some questions about immigrants—people who come from other countries to live here in the United States. Do you think the number of new immigrants allowed into the United States each year should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same?
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Increased | 92 | 14.7% |
| Decreased | 212 | 33.8% |
| Kept about the same | 279 | 44.5% |
| Don’t know/refused | 44 | 7.1% |
Question 29
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement that, “Irish, Italian, Jewish and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Hispanics should do the same without any special favors.” Would you say you…
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Strongly agree | 241 | 38.4% |
| Agree | 97 | 15.4% |
| Somewhat agree | 99 | 15.7% |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 71 | 11.3% |
| Somewhat disagree | 41 | 6.5% |
| Disagree | 25 | 3.9% |
| Strongly disagree | 29 | 4.6% |
| Don’t know/refused | 25 | 4.1% |
Question 30
Questions 30: Please indicate how many of the following five facts about Barack Obama bother you when you think about choosing the next president. We are not interested in which ones bother you, only how many. (Only one of either 2a or 2b is read.)
1. During the primary campaign, he described small-town Pennsylvanians as "bitter" and said that they "cling" to guns and religion.
2a. If elected, he will be the first black president.
2b. He has 2 children.
3. He has served in the US Senate only since 2005.
4. He used to be a smoker.
5. He was a member of Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years, before he resigned in May of 2008.
Number of facts that bothered respondent:
| N=628 | 100% | |
|---|---|---|
| Zero | 183 | 29.1% |
| 1 | 110 | 17.5% |
| 2 | 116 | 18.5% |
| 3 | 105 | 16.7% |
| 4 | 25 | 4.0% |
| 5 | 22 | 3.5% |
| Don’t know/refused | 67 | 10.7% |