The Research 2000 Iowa Poll was conducted from September 29 through September 30, 2008. A total of 600 likely voters who vote regularly in state elections were interviewed statewide by telephone.

Those interviewed were selected by the random variation of the last four digits of telephone numbers. A cross-section of exchanges was utilized in order to ensure an accurate reflection of the state. Quotas were assigned to reflect the voter registration of distribution by county.

The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 4% percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the “true” figure would fall within that range if the entire population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as for gender or party affiliation.


SAMPLE FIGURES:

Men -- 286 (48%)
Women -- 314 (52%)

Democrats -- 198 (33%)
Republicans -- 174 (29%)
Independents/Other -- 228 (38%)

PRESIDENTIAL RACE:
Listed: FAV | UNFAV | NO OPINION
Barack Obama: 57% | 32% | 11%
John McCain: 45% | 47% | 8%

QUESTION: If the election for President were held today, would you vote for the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin, or another candidate?

Listed: OBAMA | MCCAIN | OTHER | UNDECIDED
ALL: 55% | 39% | 3% | 3%
MEN: 49% | 45% | 4% | 2%
WOMEN: 61% | 33% | 2% | 4%
DEMOCRATS: 87% | 6% | 2% | 5%
REPUBLICANS: 15% | 80% | 2% | 3%
INDEPENDENTS: 58% | 36% | 5% | 1%

VP SELECTIONS IMPACT:
QUESTION: Does Palin's selection make you more or less likely to vote for Republican John McCain, or does it have no real effect on your vote?

Listed: MORE | LESS | NO EFFECT
ALL: 18% | 23% | 59%
MEN: 21% | 21% | 58%
WOMEN: 15% | 25% | 60%
DEMOCRATS: 3% | 36% | 61%
REPUBLICANS: 38% | 5% | 57%
INDEPENDENTS: 16% | 25% | 59%

QUESTION: Does Biden's selection make you more or less likely to vote for Democrat Barack Obama, or does it have no real effect on your vote?

Listed: MORE | LESS | NO EFFECT
ALL: 17% | 8% | 75%
MEN: 15% | 9% | 76%
WOMEN: 19% | 7% | 74%
DEMOCRATS: 26% | 4% | 70%
REPUBLICANS: 6% | 14% | 80%
INDEPENDENTS: 18% | 7% | 75%

For each of the following, please tell us if you think they are qualified to be President?

Listed: YES | NO | NOT SURE
JOHN MCCAIN: 63% | 28% | 9%
JOE BIDEN: 55% | 32% | 13%
BARACK OBAMA: 65% | 25% | 10%
SARAH PALIN: 37% | 56% | 7%

U.S. SENATE RACE:
QUESTION: If the election for U.S. Senate were held today, would you vote for Tom Harkin, the Democrat, or and Christopher Reed, the Republican?

Listed: HARKIN | REED | OTHER | UNDECIDED
ALL: 56% | 39% | 1% | 4%
MEN: 52% | 43% | 1% | 4%
WOMEN: 60% | 35% | 1% | 4%
DEMOCRATS: 88% | 9% | 1% | 2%
REPUBLICANS: 15% | 78% | 1% | 6%
INDEPENDENTS: 59% | 36% | 1% | 4%

CULVER JOB PERFORMANCE:
QUESTION: Do you approve or disapprove of the job Chet Culver is doing as Governor?

Listed: APPROVE | DISAPPROVE | NOT SURE
ALL: 52% | 41% | 7%
MEN: 48% | 46% | 6%
WOMEN: 55% | 36% | 9%
DEMOCRATS: 76% | 19% | 5%
REPUBLICANS: 29% | 67% | 4%
INDEPENDENTS: 49% | 40% | 11%


ECONOMY:
QUESTION: Are you driving less because of the cost of fuel?

Listed: YES | NO
67% | 33%

QUESTION: Are you spending less on other things because of fuel costs?
Listed: YES | NO
59% | 41%

QUESTION: If you own your home, are you staying in your home longer than you might otherwise due to the mortgage crisis?
Listed: YES | NO | DON’T OWN/OTHER
45% | 31% | 24%

QUESTION: Did you use your economic stimulus check to buy something, pay off bills, or put into savings?
Listed: BILLS | BUY | SAVINGS
68% | 15% | 17%

QUESTION: If you are currently employed full-time, how concerned are you about your job security; very concerned, concerned, not very concerned, not at all concerned?
Listed: VERY CONCERNED | NOT VERY | NOT AT ALL | NOT SURE
20% | 38% | 17% | 17% | 8%

GOV'T BAILOUT:
As you may know, Congress rejected a proposal which would have enabled the federal government to intervene and protect several major financial institutions in trouble because of high-risk mortgages that failed. This proposal would have allowed for taxpayer money to be used to help with the intervention and the price tag is estimated to total at least $700 billion. We'd like to ask you a few questions about the government's proposal.

QUESTION: Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the Congress voting against the government's proposal?

Listed: APPROVE | DISAPPROVE | NOT SURE
61% | 26% | 13%

QUESTION: Should taxpayer money be used to protect private companies from financial losses?
Listed: YES | NO | NOT SURE
12% | 81% | 7%