Gap between McCain, Obama is narrowing in W.Va., poll suggests

[Lasher]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The gap between John McCain and Barack Obama among West Virginia voters is slimmer than most political pundits had imagined, according to a new poll conducted by Charleston-based Mark Blankenship Enterprises.

The Republican ticket of Sen. McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin holds just a 5 percent lead over Democratic nominees Sens. Obama and Joe Biden, concludes the telephone survey of 432 registered voters in the state. The firm said its poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.

Forty-four percent said they were likely to vote for McCain/Palin in the November election compared to 39 percent who chose Obama/Biden. One in five voters said they were undecided.

Mark Blankenshp, chief executive officer of the firm, said his survey shows that Obama picked up the support of many Democrats since the West Virginia primary, when he lost by 40 points to Sen. Hillary Clinton.

http://www.dailymail.com/News/election08/200809100187

Related news:

WV Supreme Court Race Called 'Very Competitive'

Charleston, WV (HNN) -- Poll results announced Thursday, Sept. 11 confirm that the race for at least one of the Supreme Court seats in 2008 is extremely close, with Beth Walker well-positioned to compete in November.

Mark Blankenship, President and CEO of Mark Blankenship Enterprises, a Charleston polling firm, announced on West Virginia Metro News Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval that the West Virginia Supreme Court race is an "absolute statistical dead heat."

The poll of 432 registered voters, conducted over the weekend, shows Margaret Workman leading the race. The real race is between Menis Ketchum and Beth Walker, who vie for the second seat.

The poll results are as follows:

Margaret Workman - 42%
Menis Ketchum - 23%
Beth Walker - 21%
Undecided - 28%
Margin of Error - 4.7%

http://www.huntingtonnews.net/state/080912-staff-statewvsupremecourtrace.html

For what it's worth, I don't trust this polling firm.

[MadAnne]

1. My daughter called and told me this.

What do you attribute this to? Presidential not the judges.

[Lasher]

2. I don't know.

If I had to guess I suppose I would say it's mostly disillusioned Hillary voters starting to come around.

:shrug:

[Lasher]

3. Supreme Court polls differ in style, results

One puts Ketchum ahead of Walker; the other doesn't

September 14, 2008

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A new poll of the state Supreme Court race conducted for Democrat Menis Ketchum shows him with a significant lead over Republican Beth Walker - a very different result from a poll released last week that showed the two tied.

Ketchum, Walker and former Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman, a Democrat, are running for two open Supreme Court seats.

Both polls show Workman in first place.

<snip>

Blankenship, whose poll shows Ketchum leads Walker by a margin of 23 percent to 21 percent, called the race between those two an "absolute statistical dead heat."

<snip>

Another poll by Anzalone Liszt Research, a public opinion polling firm based in Washington, had different findings.

That poll, conducted in late August, shows Ketchum leading Walker by 13 points: 48 percent of respondents said they planned to vote for Ketchum, while 35 percent chose Walker.

<snip>

The startling difference between the two polls is apparently due to different polling methods.

Anzalone Liszt asked every respondent to name two choices for Supreme Court, while Blankenship did not.

<snip>

"I believe it is important to ask for two choices. It is our general methodology to make sure the question we ask is as similar as possible to the way the person is actually going to vote," Liszt said.

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200809130538?page=2&build=cache

Since voters will be asked to vote for up to two, you have to think the Liszt poll results would be more accurate - even though it was paid for by Ketchum. Mark Blankenship said nobody paid him to conduct his poll, so you would think his survey would have less potential for bias. But then again, Blankenship was a Deputy Campaign Manager for Cecil Underwood (R) and he served as a Deputy Chief of Staff in former Governor Underwood's administration.

[Hubert Flottz]

4. Ties to Underwood says it all.

This state is in one hell of a fix.