A poll conducted in the key battleground state of Florida shows Republican presidential nominee John McCain winning no more than 44% of the vote against either Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton.
The results of the Quinnipiac Poll released on the 5th anniversary of George W. Bush's declaration of "mission accomplished" in Iraq, reveals broad disapproval of the Iraq war, Bush's handling of the war, and John McCain's unyielding support for continuing the war with no end in sight.
The poll was conducted in the last week April while John McCain made numerous stops in several Florida cities and both Democratic candidates were campaigning in Indiana and North Carolina almost exclusively.
During the trip, McCain promoted his health care plan which many viewed as remarkably like George W. Bush's campaign proposal. McCain would tax health care benefits and create a tax credit ostensibly to pay for health insurance premiums. Observers noted, however, that the credit McCain is proposing would not cover even half of the average cost of family health insurance and that the new tax on health benefits would hit middle income families hardest.
At several stops, protesters from labor unions and other organizations greeted McCain. They challenged the Republican's questionable health care plan and mocked McCain's open admission to the Wall Street Journal editorial board back in January that he knows little about economics.
According to the survey, exactly half of Florida voters cite the economy as the most important issue. More than 1 in 5 say the Iraq war is most important, while 1 in 10 list health care as their top issue for the election. Fewer than 1 in 4 Floridians believe the economy will improve under a McCain administration.
McCain's close association with George W. Bush also appears to hurt him, as only 24% of Floridians approve of Bush's job performance, slightly below the national average.
In a press statement, Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said, "McCain's age is a significant problem in the minds of voters as are his ties to President George W. Bush. He is seen as the least able to fix the economy and bring about change. The data indicates he needs to continue to try and put some distance between himself and President Bush, whose job approval ratings remain awful."
