Winter Springs, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/28/2012 -- Romney holds a 17 point advantage in Gravis Marketing’s latest look at the Missouri presidential election. The poll has a margin of error of 3.4%. The Senate race is much tighter, with Democrat Claire McCaskill holding a narrow 38.8% to 37.3% lead. The poll also focused on Congressman Todd Akin’s statements regarding abortion. The polls indicate that about 80% of respondents disagreed with his statement, but do not agree on whether Akin should step away from the U.S. Senate race. A more full discussion of the results are available at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/103846007/Gravis-Missouri-Poll-Romney-Up-Akin-in-Trouble-August-24-2012-2.

How do Republicans and Democrats feel about Akin’s abortion comments? Congressman Todd Akin recently made a statement that abortion should be illegal in cases of rape because if it is really rape, the female body will keep from getting pregnant. On the whole, about 80% of individuals disagree with the statement, with about 61% of likely Romney voters indicating disagreement and 82% of likely Obama voters.

Should Akin step down because of the statement? Given general disagreement with Akin’s statement, individuals were asked whether Akin should resign. On the whole, the answer to this question is evenly split, with 41.6% indicating they would like Akin to resign and 42.4% indicating that Akin should not resign. The results differ by party, with 47% of Democrats indicating he should resign and 37% of Republicans giving a signal that he should resign.

How does the Akin issue look in connection with the favorability of Romney? On the whole, 44% of individuals with a favorable opinion of Romney think Akin shouldn’t resign, while 40% think he should. On the flip side, 48% of those with an unfavorable opinion of Romney think Akin should resign, while 42% think Akin should not resign.

A summary of the questions follow (rounding is applied in all cases).

1. Are you registered to vote?

Yes………………..92.4%

No………………….7.6%

2. How likely are you to vote in this year’s presidential elections?

Very likely……….94.7%

Somewhat likely…..3.8%

Not likely………….1.6%

3. In which party are you either registered to vote or do you consider yourself a member of?

Democrat………….34.2%

Republican………...43.2%

Other or unsure……22.6%

4. What race do you identify yourself as (White/Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Other)?

White……………….90.0%

African-American……4.6%

Hispanic……………...0.8%

Asian…………………0.6%

Other………………….3.9%

5. Which of the following best represents your religious affiliation (Roman, Catholic, Protestant/Other non-denominational Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Other/no affiliation)?

Roman Catholic……….24.5%

Protestant/Christian…...61.2%

Jewish…………………..1.7%

Muslim…………………0.5%

Other/no affiliation……12.1%

6. How old are you (18-29/30-39/41-49/50+)?

18-29…………………..3.8%

30-39…………………..8.1%

40-49…………………..6.7%

50+……………………81.4%

7. What is your gender?

Men…………………...62.8%

Women………………..37.2%

8. Do you approve of Barack Obama’s general performance as president?

Approve……………….34.4%

Disapprove……………57.0%

Unsure/Other…………..8.6%

9. Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Mitt Romney?

Favorable………………43.7%

Unfavorable……………35.9%

Unsure………………….20.4%

10. If the presidential election was held today and the candidates were Democrat Barack Obama, Republican Mitt Romney, and Libertarian Gary Johnson, for whom would you vote?

Obama………………….36.1%

Romney…………………53.1%

Johnson…………………..4.1%

Other/Unsure…………….6.6%

11. If the election were held today, who would you vote for in the Senate race?

Akin……………………37.3%

McCaskill………………38.8%

Other/Unsure……...……23.9%

12. This past weekend, Todd Akin said that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape because if it is really rape, the female body will keep from getting pregnant. Do you agree with this?

Agree……………………13.7%

Disagree…………………79.4%

Unsure……………………6.9%

13. Given the controversial comments from Congressman Todd Akin made about rape and abortion, do you think he should drop out of the race for the U.S. Senate?

Yes……………………….41.6%

No………………………..42.4%

Unsure……………………16.0%

http://www.scribd.com/doc/103846007/Gravis-Missouri-Poll-Romney-Up-Akin-in-Trouble-August-24-2012-2.

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