Local Poll: Obama Up; Now for GOP

I've just wrapped up the first of my Madville Times Presidential polls. With 37 readers weighing in (meaning a margin of error of a good 120 points!), Senator Obama outpaces Senator Clinton in the South Dakota primary 59% to 38%. But Dems of most stripes can take heart: both Obama and Clinton beat McCain. Out of 48 voters (again, love the margin of error), Clinton beats McCain 44% to 33%, while out of 46 voters, Obama beats McCain 59% to 28%. There were only a couple undecideds.

Perhaps interestingly, the Clinton-McCain matchup must draw the Naderites and Barr-Paul voters out of their chairs: 17% said they'd pick someone else, while only 2% would stay home and not vote. The Obama-McCain matchup drew just 2% in the "someone else" column; 7% said they'd stay home.

Naturally, I expect Senator Obama will want to swing through Lake County on his trip from Watertown to Sioux Falls to thank the Madville Times for such good press... ;-)

I'll refresh the Dem poll next week -- but now it's time for some specifically Republican fun. In the right sidebar, you'll see two new polls: one for Lake County GOP voters to pick their faves for the County Commission race, one for all of my SD GOP readers to pick their man for the US Senate race against Tim Johnson. Remember: County Commission voters get to pick up to three out of the five. I'll leave those polls up through Sunday, then report Monday on the results.

So hey, GOP readers! Vote now, and tell your friends! Show those darn Dems that you can generate some electoral excitement too!