New W.Va. general election poll

McCain leads by eight.

Rasmussen:

John McCain begins the general election season with an eight-point advantage over Barack Obama in West Virginia. The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of this general election match-up shows McCain attracting 45% of the vote while Obama earns 37%.

Though 8 points isn't as much as I would have thought. A good deal of the Clinton voters are sticking with the Democrats. Still, a strong early lead for McCain.

To put it in perspective, here are Bush's numbers from 2000 and 2004 (rounded off).

2000
Bush - 52%
Gore - 46%

2004
Bush 56%
Kerry 43%