This election season, George Washington University’s bipartisan Battleground Tracking Poll is in full spring, measuring the electorate, issues, and the various responses to specific candidates running for office; it also houses research archives for academic study. In Connecticut, the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is located in Storrs at the University of Connecticut and a few miles further south the Quinnipiac University Polling Center routinely queries people about national and local matters. Moving to the midwest, we can find the Big Ten Battleground Poll, directed by folks at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, studying issues of the day. These are but some of the analytical institutes housed at colleges and universities around the country, academically rigorous and bipartisan centers, making important contributions not only to the social sciences but also to the image and visibility of their respective schools.

At Hofstra University, Lawrence C. Levy is the Executive Director of the National Center for Suburban Studies and his organization recently released a fascinating poll about — you guessed it — the suburbs and the election. Levy, a former student of mine at BU, spent an important part of his career at New York’s Newsday, “the voice of Long Island,” where, before joining Hofstra, he most recently served as senior editorial writer, member of the editorial board, and columnist the paper.

Levy is quoted as saying, “Suburban voters have decided not only the victors of the last five presidential contests but control of Congress and state houses.” He goes on to report, “These voters tend to be more ideologically moderate than the typical voter. They aren’t owned by any political party and now there are more voters in suburbia than any where else in the country.

“…[W]hile suburbanites once voted strongly for Republicans, today their preferences are shifting. The change has been driven both by shifting demographics and political preferences. More minorities are moving to suburbia and bringing their Democratic voting tastes with them. And the increasingly conservative image of the Republican Party at the national level has alienated many suburban voters. They tend to be socially liberal, fiscally conservative, and averse to extremism from the right or the left.”

Over the years, much has been written about the changing character of American cities, as the population of the country underwent a profound shift from urban to rural communities. For many years, cities have been considered Democratic havens and the suburbs Republican bastions. According to this new NCSS poll, the stereotypes are not as monolithic as they were previously believed to be.

As we near election day, it will be fascinating to watch the trend lines. First the race question appeared in the media as a deciding factor, followed closely by the gender issue — beginning with Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and concentrating now on Sarah Palin’s nomination. Then there was a shift from concern over the war in Iraq as the pivotal question to worry over the sour economic picture. And all along simmering in the background are the swing voters: the battle of the urbanites vs. suburbanites for control of electoral votes.