Well gosh-darn-it, who woulda expected anything else?

The Republican ticket of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin would crush the Democratic candidates Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden by a nearly 2-1 margin if the general election were held now in Wyoming, according to a poll commissioned by the Casper Star-Tribune.

McCain of Arizona and Alaska Gov. Palin would win by 58 percent to 32 percent, with 2 percent choosing other candidates, according to the poll by the Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. The poll was conducted Oct. 13-14. A total of 625 registered Wyoming voters were interviewed statewide by telephone on Oct. 13-14 and all said that they were likely to vote on Nov. 4. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

Eight percent of voters were still undecided.

The GOP dominance mirrors Wyoming's voter registration according to the Secretary of State as of Oct. 1: 145,267 Republicans; 62,954 Democrats; 759 Libertarians; 24,121 unaffiliated; and 40 for other parties.

While within the margin of error, Palin enjoyed the highest favorable name recognition, 59 percent to McCain's 57 percent.

The folksy-speaking governor also had the lowest unfavorable name recognition at 29 percent, with 12 percent of voters saying their impression of her was neutral.

McCain's disapproval was 32 percent, with 11 percent of voters saying their impression was neutral.

On the other hand, 37 percent of voters who recognized Obama's name held a favorable impression, 1 percent lower than Biden's at 38 percent.

But nearly half, or 48 percent, of Wyoming's voters had an unfavorable opinion of Obama. The remaining 15 percent were neutral in their opinion of the senator from Illinois.

Delaware Senator Biden had 38 percent unfavorable name recognition, with 23 percent of voters saying they were neutral. One percent of voters didn't recognize his name.

None of these results surprised Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker.

"Palin is very popular with Republican voters," Coker said. "Her appeal was to the conservative base of the party."

Even so, the 59 percent approval is down from Wyoming voters' 65 percent favorable-25 percent unfavorable opinion just two months ago in August, he said.

"That is a complete result of the economic crisis," Coker said. "This meltdown couldn't have happened at a better time for Obama."

The economy has become the No. 1 if not the sole issue of the election, he said.

Wyoming voters' opinion of Obama is up since August, while their negative opinion went up 1 percent, Coker said. "All the [opinion] movement is among the undecided."

The Wyoming Democratic Party garnered national attention when Obama and his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., campaigned in the state before the attendance record-setting party caucuses in March.

While that energy probably helped the party on the local level, it appears to be a wash when looking at statewide voter registration and that negligible effect on the presidential race, according to University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King.

"State numbers have gone up for Democrats," King said. "They've gone up for Republicans, as well."

You betcha.

Contact reporter Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592 or Tom.Morton@trib.com.