It’s another beautiful day in California:
Democratic women are now 83-9 percent in support of Obama.
The survey shows that the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden leads the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin by a 52 percent to 36 percent margin. The 16 percent point lead remains significant but is down from the 24 point lead the Democratic team enjoyed in July. An aggregate 3 percent of voters prefer other candidates, while 9 percent remain undecided.
Palin has not helped McCain among California independents, who represent one-fifth of the state’s electorate:
[McCain’s] choice of Palin has not helped him get to “stage two … broadening the (GOP) base to include the nonpartisans,” said DiCamillo. “He’s made very little headway in that regard.”
The independent and decline-to-state Californians - a rapidly growing number who represent 1 in 5 state voters and are increasingly younger and ethnic - are “still with Obama,” he said. Those voters are “what elected Arnold Schwarzenegger,” another star candidate who portrayed himself a as a maverick outsider, [said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo].
But with that critical electorate, “(Palin) is not moving the needle much. … That (independent voter) number would have to get very close or even in McCain’s column for him to be competitive in California,” he said. “And it doesn’t look that way.”
Palin did not help McCain woo California’s Democratic women either:
The latest poll findings suggest that female Democratic voters - once considered questionable for Obama after the hard-fought primary with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - are now strongly behind Obama.
Among all female voters, the Democrats lead 54-33 percent, and female Democrats are now 83-9 percent in favor of the Democratic team; that compares with Republican women, who are 74 percent in favor of McCain-Palin and 12 percent against.
And here’s the demographic factor that makes California a Democratic bastion:
Voters residing in California’s coastal counties, who represent 70 percent of the state’s likely electorate, prefer Obama-Biden over McCain-Palin overwhelmingly, 57 percent to 32 percent. Conversely, those voters in the state’s inland counties favor the Republican ticket 46 percent to 38 percent, the survey showed.
The irony, of course, is that Barack Obama raised $9 million during a brief visit here on Tuesday — but not a penny of it will be spent on campaign ads in California. (Not that we’re complaining.)
