Reply #5: The folks who usually

[Julien Sorel]

post heavily on candidates'threads don't want to post on this one for some odd reason. I wonder why.

Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, Clark is the favorite for the party's nomination with 15 percent. Close behind, 13 percent favor Lieberman, 11 percent favor Kerry, 10 percent favor Dean and eight percent favor Gephardt. One in four Democrats and Democrat leaners would pick Clark as either their first or second choice for the Democratic nomination v. 22 percent for Lieberman, 19 percent for Kerry, 17 percent for Gephardt and 16 percent for Dean.

And,

If the next general election were held now, 43 percent of registered voters say they would vote for retired General Wesley Clark or lean towards voting for Clark, while 47 percent would vote for Bush or lean towards Bush. By comparison, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry trails Bush by 48 v. 42 percent, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt trails Bush by 49 v. 42 percent, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman trails Bush by 50 v. 42 percent and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean trails Bush by 49 v. 40 percent, the poll shows.



Every national poll I've seen shows Dean at the rear in a head-to-head matchup with Bush, but of course, it is now a standard part of Dean's stump speech to say that 'all the leading contenders beat Bush in the polls I've seen....' Some of the Deanies hate Clark because he threatens Dean; I despise Dean because he is a weak candidate who sees no difference between telling the truth and telling a lie.