2008 National Polls (pre-election)

Below is a selection of recent national public opinion polls showing presidential preference; we have highlighted survey findings on gender.

The gender gap* is the difference in the percentages of women and men who support a given candidate — the gap between the genders, not within a gender. Even if women and men favor the same candidate, they may do so by different margins, resulting in a gender gap.

* We calculate the gender gap for each poll based on the votes of women and men who support the candidate leading in that poll.

Poll	Date in Field	Release Date	Overall Results	Gender Gap*	Women for McCain	Men for McCain	Women for Obama	Men for Obama	Undecided Women	Undecided Men
ABC/Post	10/22-10/25	10/26	Obama 52%; McCain 45%	11 pts.	41%	51%	57%	46%	NA	NA
Newsweek	10/22-10/23	10/24	Obama 53%; McCain 40%	2 pts.	39%	42%	54%	52%	7%	4%
CBS/NYTimes	10/19-10/22	10/23	Obama 52%; McCain 39%	5 pts.	37%	41%	55%	50%	NA	NA
Rasmussen	10/13-10/19	10/22	Obama 50%; McCain 45%	6 pts.	42%	49%	53%	47%	3%	2%
ABC/Post	10/18-10/21	10/22	Obama 54%; McCain 43%	7 pts.	41%	46%	57%	50%	NA	NA
NBC/WSJ	10/17-10/20	10/21	Obama 52%; McCain 42%	7 pts.	38%	45%	56%	49%	NA	NA
ARG	10/18-10/20	10/21	Obama 49%; McCain 45%	7 pts.	43%	48%	52%	45%	NA	NA
Franklin and Marshall College	10/13-10/19	10/22	Obama 50%; McCain 45%	7 pts.	41%	45%	51%	44%	6%	6%
Pew	10/16-10/19	10/21	Obama 52%; McCain 38%	6 pts.	35%	42%	55%	49%	NA	NA
Gallup	10/13-10/19	10/20	Obama 51%; McCain 42%	7 pts.	39%	46%	54%	47%	NA	NA
ARG	10/11-10/13	10/14	Obama 50%; McCain 45%	7 pts.	44%	47%	53%	46%	NA	NA
CBS/NYTimes	10/10-10/13	10/14	Obama 53%; McCain 39%	1 pt.	37%	41%	52%	53%	NA	NA
Pew	10/9-10/12	10/14	Obama 50%; MCCain 40%	8 pts.	35%	46%	54%	46%	NA	NA
LA Times/Bloomberg	10/10-10/13	10/14	Obama 49%; McCain 41%	0 pts.	41%	40%	49%	49%	8%	9%
Ipsos/McClatchy	10/9-10/13	10/14	Obama 48%; McCain 39%	5 pts.	37%	41%	50%	45%	10%	10%
ABC/Post	10/8-10/11	10/13	Obama 53%; McCain 43%	9 pts.	39%	47%	57%	48%	NA	NA
Rasmussen Reports	10/6-10/12	10/13	Obama 51%; McCain 45%	7 pts.	42%	48%	54%	47%	4%	3%
Gallup	10/6-10/12	10/13	Obama 51%; McCain 41%	4 pts.	39%	44%	53%	49%	NA	NA
Newsweek	10/8-10/9	10/10	Obama 52%; McCain 41%	4 pts.	41%	40%	50%	54%	8%	5%
Ipsos/McClatchey	10/2-10/6	10/7	Obama 47%; McCain 40%	13 pts.	36%	45%	53%	40%	9%	10%
NBC/WSJ	10/4-10/5	10/6	Obama 49%; McCain 43%	5 pts.	41%	46%	51%	46%	4.4%	3.8%
Rasmussen Reports	9/29-10/5	10/6	Obama 52%; McCain 44%	7 pts.	52%	48%	55%	48%	3%	2%
Gallup	9/29-10/5	10/6	Obama 49%; Mcain 43%	8 pts.	39%	47%	53%	45%	NA	NA
GWU/Tarrance	9/28-10/2	10/3	Obama 45%; McCain 41%	7 pts.	37%	46%	48%	41%	14%	11%
Time	9/26-9/29	10/1	Obama 50%; McCain 43%	10 pts.	36%	47%	53%	43%	10%	9%
CBS	9/27-9/30	10/1	Obama 49%; McCain 40%	4 pts.	37%	43%	51%	47%	NA	NA
Pew	9/27-9/29	10/1	Obama 49%; McCain 42%	11 pts.	37%	47%	54%	43%	NA	NA
ABC/Post	9/27-9/29	9/30	Obama 50%; McCain 46%	5 pts.	45%	48%	52%	47%	NA	NA
Gallup	9/22-9/28	9/30	Obama 48%; McCain 44%	8 pts.	39%	49%	52%	44%	NA	NA
CBS/NYTimes	9/21-9/24	9/25	Obama 47%; McCain 42%	4 pts.	36%	49%	49%	45%	NA	NA
Bloomberg/LATimes	9/19-9/22	9/24	Obama 46%; McCain 44%	6 pts.	40%	49%	49%	43%	NA	NA
Franklin and Marshall College	9/15-9/21	9/25	Obama 45%; McCain 43%	11 pts.	38%	52%	48%	37%	11%	8%
NBC/Wall Street Journal	9/19-9/22	9/25	Obama 48%; McCain 46%	5 pts.	42%	50%	50%	45%	8%	4.3%
Franklin and Marshall College	9/15-9/21	9/25	Obama 45% McCain 43%	11 pts.	38%	52%	48%	37%	NA	NA
Bloomberg/LATimes	9/19-9/22	9/24	Obama 46%; McCain 44%	6 pts.	40%	49%	49%	43%	NA	NA
ABC/Post	9/19-9/23	9/24	Obama 52%; McCain 43%	9 pts.	40%	47%	56%	47%	NA	NA
ARG	9/20-9/22	9/23	Obama 48%; MCCain 46%	5 pts.	45%	48%	50%	45%	NA	NA
Economist/YouGov	9/15-9/16	9/18	McCain 45%; Obama 43%	10 pts.	40%	50%	47%	40%	9%	6%
Pew	9/9-9/14	9/18	Obama 46%; McCain 44%	9 pts.	40%	49%	50%	41%	NA	NA
CBS/NYTimes	9/12-9/16	9/17	Obama 48%; McCain 43%	12 pts.	38%	48%	54%	42%	NA	NA
Quinnipiac	9/11-9/16	9/17	Obama 49%; McCain 45%	11 pts.	40%	50%	54%	43%	5%	5%
Newsweek	9/10-9/11	9/12	Obama 46%; McCain 46% (includes leaning voters)	2 pts. 0 pts.	46%	46%	45%	47%	10%	6%
Economist/YouGov	9/7-9/9	9/10	Obama 41%; McCain 40%	3 pts.	37%	45%	42%	39%	16%	11%
InsiderAdvantage	9/8	9/9	McCain 46%; Obama 46%	9 pts. 12 pts.	42%	51%	52%	40%	NA	NA
Rasmusen Weekly	9/1-9/7	9/8	Obama 49%; McCain 46%	42%	50%	52%	46%	6 pts.	3%	4%
CBS	9/1-9/3	9/4	McCain 42%; Obama 42%	8 pts. 2 pts.	38%	46%	43%	41%	NA	NA
Economist/YouGov	9/1-9/3	9/4	Obama 42%; McCain 39%	5 pts.	33%	46%	44%	39%	17%	9%