The net among all registered voters is that 9 percent say they'd be more apt to support McCain with a running mate who favors legal abortion, but 19 percent said it would make them less likely to vote for the Republican ticket.
These compare to the anticipated impact of Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket. In interviews before that pick was announced, 13 percent said it would make them more likely to support Barack Obama, 10 percent less likely – essentially no effect, given polling tolerances. Seventy-five percent said it would make no difference.
McCain floated the possibility of a running mate who supports legal abortion two weeks ago, saying that this would not necessarily rule out Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor. Said McCain: "I think it's a fundamental tenet of our party to be pro-life but that does not mean we exclude people from our party that are pro-choice."
This poll also tested the positive or negative effect of various possible vice presidential candidates. Only in the case of Mitt Romney did more people say the choice would make them more likely rather than less likely to support McCain, and that was within sampling error – 20 percent more, 16 percent less. Ridge showed a net negative impact of 6 points, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman of -7, but the overall impact of all was small – given current knowledge of their positions on the hot-button issue of abortion.
METHODOLOGY – This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Aug. 19-22, 2008, among a random national sample of 1,108 adults, including an oversample of African Americans (weighted to their correct share of the national population), for a total of 201 black respondents. Results among registered voters have a 3-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS of Horsham, PA.
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