Virginia Poll Released by Mason Dixon: Barack Obama 45%, John McCain 48%

Here are the latest results from the Virginia poll by Mason Dixon published on USAElectionPolls.com:

There were 625 voters polled on 9/29-10/1.

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Quote:

The survey indicated that the nation’s shaky economy is Virginia voters’ top concern. Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed identified the economy and jobs as the “single most important national issue” in the election. The war in Iraq ranked second, at eight percent.

The Mason-Dixon results contrast with a flurry of other polls that found a surge in support for Obama nationwide and in the Old Dominion since last week’s nationally-televised debate between the two men.

A CNN/Time Magazine survey conducted Sunday-Tuesday gave Obama a nine percentage point edge in Virginia, for example, and a Fox News/Rasmussen Reports poll done on Sunday showed the Democrat up by three points statewide.

“Something’s happened in the last few days,” said J. Bradford Coker, Mason-Dixon’s managing director. His poll’s results indicate that the contest may be settling down now after the post-debate spike in Obama’s support, he said. Nightly national polls done by the Gallup organization showed Obama surging to an eight point lead right after the debate, he noted, but the Democrat’s lead had narrowed to four points by Wednesday.

Though the Mason-Dixon survey showed the race in Virginia unchanged by the debate, a plurality of Virginians agree Obama “performed better” in the face off. Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed said they watched the debate and of those, 38 percent judged Obama the victor; 29 percent gave an edge to McCain.

Regionally, the survey indicates McCain and Obama are running even in Hampton Roads, with McCain preferred by 47 percent and Obama by 46 percent.

McCain’s largest regional advantage is in the rural Shenandoah Valley and Piedmont, where he leads, 59-36. Obama’s biggest – and only – lead is in Northern Virginia, the state’s most populous area, where he is ahead, 57-37.

Source: National Polls, Electoral College Results