California Insider

Interesting Field Poll out this morning on how Californians view Bush and Kerry. On the headline numbers, not much has changed since the last one, with Kerry holding a 12-point lead (51-39) and nearly two-thirds of his supporters saying their position is more anti-Bush than pro-Kerry.

What’s more intriguing is the list of traits voters say apply to one candidate more than the other. Of the 20 questions asked, Kerry came out ahead on 17, and Bush on only three.

But the three on which Bush prevailed are the ones his campaign considers to be the crucial, defining issues in the race. California voters said Bush was more likely, by a 60-27 margin, to keep the United States strong militarily. They also rated him higher than Kerry (51-37) on the related issue of who would do the better job fighting terrorism. And the president came out ahead 54-25 when voters were asked which candidate would be the best at keeping taxes down.

What are the issues on which Kerry prevails? I am going to list all 17 here, in descending order of Kerry’s lead: the environment, health care, Social Security and Medicare, minorities, women, the “country’s future,” abortion, advisers the public can trust, lead the country in the right direction, honest and trustworthy, improve the economy, “resolve the situation” in Iraq, kind of leader the country needs, Supreme Court justices, shares my values and beliefs, same-sex marriage, friendly and likable person.

Bottom line: Californians, by a landslide, are saying they think Bush would keep the nation stronger militarily and do a better job fighting terrorism, while keeping taxes low. But by a wide margin, the same people say they would still rather see Kerry be president.

Next to nobody expects Bush to win in California at this point. But I would guess that Karl Rove would be fairly pleased to have those numbers on defense, terrorism and taxes in the rest of the country on the day before the election, let alone after weeks of unrelenting bad news.

See the whole thing here.

By a two-to-one margin, Californians do not believe the war in Iraq is worth the toll it is taking in American lives and other costs.

Six in ten of the state’s adults and registered voters also disapprove of George Bush’s handling of the war, and a majority disapproves of his overall job performance as well.

The proportion of Californians who feel the nation is seriously off on the wrong track is larger than at any time since 1992.

From the latest Field Poll.

See the whole thing here.