Rasmussen Poll: Joe Biden Helps Obama as Much as He Hurts Him

A new Rasmussen Reports poll came out yesterday asking questions about Barack Obama’s VP pick, Joe Biden:

Probably most important was question number 2:

2* With Joe Biden as his running mate, are you more likely or less likely to vote for Barack Obama?

32% More likely
32% Less likely

30% No impact
5% Not sure

So, Biden hurts as much as he helps.  That’s really not what you want to see your running mate do to your campaign.  I’m guessing a big chunk of the “Less Likely” category is Hillary supporters.

Here are some other questions:

1*Earlier today, Barack Obama named Joe Biden to be his Vice Presidential running mate. Was this the right choice for Obama to make?

39% Yes
25% No
35% Not sure

Most of the Clinton supporters said, “No,” I’m guessing.

3* If necessary, is Joe Biden ready to be President?

39% Yes
35% No
26% Not sure

Again, having only 4% more people think your running mate is ready to serve than people who think he’s not, is NOT a good margin.  So the same 39% in number 1 probably said yes here, but around another 10% don’t think he’s ready to lead.  Biden was NOT a good pick, simply because 1) He brings pretty much nothing to the table, and 2) Apparently, he’s not too popular as a VP/possible Presidential candidate (that’s obvious considering he got smashed in the primary).

4* In political terms, is Joe Biden very conservative, somewhat conservative, moderate, somewhat liberal, or very liberal?

3% Very conservative
7% Somewhat conservative

33% Moderate
25% Somewhat liberal
18% Very liberal

15% Not sure

OK, so 10% of the people poll are idiots and clearly should’ve said “Not sure”.  If Biden is a conservative, then I’m - I don’t know what I’d be if Biden is a conservative.  But this is probably the best question that Biden performed in.  A 33% moderate description is pretty good, and a 25% liberal description isn’t bad.  Since most of America leans left, he ideologically appeals to around 58% of America, but that’s just in general, not anything specific.

62-29*Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of Joe Biden?

20% Very favorable
28% Somewhat favorable
19% Somewhat unfavorable
19% Very unfavorable
15% Not familiar with Joe Biden
3% Not sure

48% like him.  38% don’t like him.  18% know pretty much nothing.

Overall, if 48% say they like him, but only 32% say he makes them lean toward Obama, that means that around 16% weren’t impacted by his pick.  If 48% like him, but 39% say he was the right pick, that means that some Biden supporters think that, although they like him, he’ll overall not help the ticket.

So, who do I think Obama should’ve picked?  It should’ve been Senator Evan Bayh, from Indiana – at least he’s from a swing state.

Well, now I just have to wait for my text message from John McCain at 4:13 A.M. EDT next Saturday (why Obama sent it out that late/early seems odd to me – I was one of the few people in the Eastern time zone still awake.

Done Analyzing,

Ranting Republican
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Tags: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Candidate, Conservative, Democrat, Democrats, Election, Evan Bayh, General Election, Hillary Clinton, Indiana, Joe Biden, John McCain, Liberal, Moderate, Politics, Poll, Rasmussen, Rasmussen Reports, Republican, Running Mate, Senator, Text Message, Vice President, Vice Presidential Candidate