Washington, D.C. -- As Maine goes, so goes Vermont. Franklin Roosevelt said this after soundly defeating Kansas governor Alf Landon for another term in office. He was poking fun at the saying that as Maine goes, so goes the nation, referring to the early voting of Maine in September due to the early harvest. Landon won only Maine and Vermont in that landslide victory for FDR.

If the election were held today, small-business owners would overwhelmingly elect George W. Bush president, even Maine. In a National Small Business Association e-mail survey of 14,000 business owners Bush received 64 percent of the vote compared to challenger John Kerry’s 32 percent.

Bush also carried every state in the union except Vermont and the District of Columbia. There was a tight race in Maryland among business owners, but Bush was still on top in that state.

Respondents were also asked what issues are influencing their vote in this election. Bush won on taxes, social security, jobs, the overall economy, small business issues, the war on terrorism, moral issues and values. Kerry won on education and the war on Iraq. The two tied on health care.

The results should come as no surprise. A majority of those polled self-identified as Republicans, while only 24 percent said they were Democrats and 15 percent independents.

Respondents also leaned more conservative in the survey. Seventy-four percent of business owners claimed to be conservative or moderate-leaning conservative. Twenty-seven percent identified themselves as liberal or moderate-leaning liberal.

The survey was conducted July 19 to 23, 2004. Full results are available at www.nsbaadvocate.com/press/surveys/

Since 1937, the National Small Business Association has been an advocate for the interests of small businesses throughout the country, reaching over 150,000 small businesses today. We are proud to be the first national small business advocacy organization in the United States.