MONTANA SURVEY of 500 likely voters

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

1* If the election for the United States Senate were held today, would you vote for Republican Conrad Burns or for Democrat Jon Tester?

43% Burns

52% Tester

1% some other candidate

4% not sure

2* Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of:

	Burns	Tester
Very favorable	20%	28%
Somewhat favorable	25%	27%
Somewhat unfavorable	17%	22%
Very unfavorable	37%	19%
Not sure	1%	5%

3*In terms of how you will vote this November, which of the following issues is most important… the economy, immigration, government corruption, national security, the War in Iraq, same-sex marriage, or some other issue?

29% the economy

9% immigration

15% government corruption

20% national security

17% the War in Iraq

2% same-sex marriage

3% some other issue

3% not sure

4* I’m going to read you a short list of issues. For each, please let me know which political party you trust more to handle that issue. First, national security. Which political party do you trust more on the handling of national security—Republicans or Democrats?

52% Republicans

39% Democrats

9% not sure

5*Fine…the War in Iraq…Which party do you trust more on the War in Iraq?

49% Republicans

42% Democrats

9% not sure

6*Okay… the economy. Which political party do you trust more on the handling of the economy—Republicans or Democrats?

47% Republicans

46% Democrats

8% not sure

7*Great…immigration. Which political party do you trust more on the immigration issue?

39% Republicans

37% Democrats

24% not sure

8*Okay…taxes. Which political party do you trust more on taxes?

45% Republicans

44% Democrats

10% not sure

9*Fine…Is the War in Iraq part of the war on terror or is it a distraction from the War on Terror?

52% Iraq part of War on Terror

43% distraction

5% not sure

10*Great…which is more important in terms of deciding how you will vote…a candidates political party or their individual character?

7% political party

89% character

4% not sure

11*Okay….how often do you discuss politics and current events with family, friends and neighbors?

7% rarely or never

19% occasionally

18% about once a week

27% several times a week

29% every day or nearly every day

1% not sure

12* How would you rate the job George W. Bush has been doing as President… do you strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, or strongly disapprove of the job he’s been doing?

31% strongly approve

20% somewhat approve

8% somewhat disapprove

40% strongly disapprove

0% not sure

13* How would you rate the job Brian Schweitzer has been doing as Governor… do you strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, or strongly disapprove of the job he’s been doing?

38% strongly approve

33% somewhat approve

18% somewhat disapprove

9% strongly disapprove

1% not sure

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.