Hillary Clinton’s Big Lead in Democratic Race Unchanged

[Tellurian]

PRINCETON, NJ -- New USA Today/Gallup polling conducted this past weekend shows few signs that front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton’s standing among Democrats nationally was affected by the recent Democratic candidate debate at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Clinton continues to lead all contenders as Democrats’ first choice for the nomination, with half of the Democratic vote -- more than double the support of her nearest challenger, Sen. Barack Obama. Former Sen. John Edwards, the trial lawyer whose forceful approach to Clinton during the debate has become the subject of considerable discussion, saw no change in his position as the Democrats’ third-place candidate.

Clinton’s 50% of the vote, Obama’s 22%, and Edwards’ 15% are virtually unchanged from Gallup’s Oct. 12-14 poll, and are representative of the general structure of the race for the Democratic nomination since August. Gov. Bill Richardson has 4% of the vote, while Sen. Joe Biden, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, and Sen. Chris Dodd each have only 1% of the Democratic vote.

Last week’s debate was notable in that it was the first such event to see sustained criticism of the front-running Clinton by her challengers. Some observers had opined in print and on the air that Clinton had in fact “lost” last week’s debate by virtue of the way she responded to questions about Iran and a plan to allow illegal immigrants in her home state of New York to obtain drivers’ licenses.

This poll did not ask Democrats directly whether they saw the debate or news coverage of it, and thus did not measure directly any perceived gain or loss by candidates as a result of the debate or the news coverage that followed. But the stability in Gallup’s nomination preference trends more indirectly suggests that the debate had little impact on the standing of the candidates in the minds of Democrats nationwide -- at least to this point in time. Clinton’s lead remains formidable.



Nationally, Clinton is viewed favorably by 52% of Americans and unfavorably by 45%. This is almost precisely what Gallup measured in two October polls.

In similar fashion, there has been no statistically significant change in the images of either Obama or Edwards among Americans when the results before and after the debate are compared.

moe+- 3

http://www.gallup.com/poll/102601/Hillary-Clintons-Big-Lead-Democratic-Race-Unchanged.aspx

[Tellurian]

1. Obama and Edwards need to try harder..

The Ras poll showing a "dip" in Hillary's number is more than likely a daily number not a cumulative one..

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. The Media Is Heavily, Heavily, Heavily Invested In Making This A Race

It is their raison d'etre to destroy Hillary Clinton the way they tried to destroy her husband... We will see who wins this round...

If I counted all the failed attempts it would be over a dozen...

[Tellurian]

16. Great to hear you are inoculated against the msnbc viral attacks.

actually, I believe the public is tired of all the negativity. Matthews is making our case for us. I expect his ratings will reflect similar activity.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. If You Remember

If you rememeber ...During impeachment Matthews used to "beat up" Bill Clinton on his MSNBC show and then Geraldo would defend Clinton in the show that follows...

He's a toothache of a man...You're free to hate anybody you want in this nation but at least have the intellectual and moral integrity to be up front about it...He hates Bill and Hill...Period...

[Tellurian]

23. I agree..

It will be a great day when the public rejects anchors such as Matthews, who are completely devoid of any palpable form of integrity. Hopefully, we will live to see the day when the prerequisite for news anchor positions will require acrobatic intelligence steeped in adherence to moral and ethical principles.

[Tactical Progressive]

30. In the US media? That day will never come.

They are on a trajectory of getting worse and worse.

They started turning into Republicans with Reagan; they became anti-Democrat with Clinton and then Gore, and they have shown there is no limit to the protection and support they will provide for right-wing ideology and its proponents throughout the many domestic and national travesties of BushCo.

I was stunned just at how they took step two against Clinton and Gore. I never in my life thought we'd have a national journalism that would go anywhere near where they have in these past ten years. That third and final step was beyond the point of no return.

It's over. They can't ever be trusted again.

[Tellurian]

31. If there is reformation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996

with regard to Truthiness in the news, it's within the realm of possibility.

[Tactical Progressive]

34. I don't think the '96 Telecom Act

nor even the Reagan Admin's abolishment of the 'fairness doctrine' have much if anything to do with what has happened to journalism

Don't get me wrong, I think revisiting the Telecom Act is a real good idea from an antitrust perspective. I don't however believe that the behavior of American journalism over the past ten years has been caused by that.

[mtnsnake]

19. It'll be interesting to see what Edwards' next desperate move is.

There is really nothing he can do to make himself electable. I'm surprised Biden and Kucinich haven't overtaken him yet, but there's still plenty of time.

[Tellurian]

24. Consensus has Edwards taking flack from media guests

noticing his recent change to an attack campaign is not being viewed favorably by Iowans. Considering the foundation for his 2004 run was based on a positive campaign message. Iowans remember and are not liking it one bit..

[IndianaJones]

2. She will have some daily fluctuations. Overall, a commanding lead. nt.

[Danieljay]

3. The question remains. Can she win the general election? I'm not so sure.

My hunch is that a Hillary nomination means another 4 years of Republican presidency.

[Tellurian]

5. Hillary is showing her mettle while under attack from Dems using RW tactics

and she is sailing along nicely. Great preparation for the General!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. The Polls Don't Agree With You

http://www.pollingreport.com/wh08gen.htm


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/national.html

[Tellurian]

13. The Gallup Poll is for the Primary between Democrats...yours is for the GE

Hillary maintains a 20 pt lead in the polling report between Democrats:

http://www.pollingreport.com/wh08dem.htm

[ShortnFiery]

4. Yes, there's no place like the corrupt polling procedures of our Fifth Column M$M.

:evilgrin: Click our heels together and whisper to ourselves, "There's no place like The Clintonian DLC in charge." :eyes:

Gee, maybe "the press" will not even allow us to vote since these smarmy a**holes have already FIGURED seemingly every damn race out via shoddy polling? :thumbsdown:

[Tellurian]

7. good morning S&F...

your arguments are getting old. Please come up with new material. I need a good laugh today. Three of my credit cards were stolen from my wallet yesterday... a big first for me... what a hassle.

[ShortnFiery]

11. Back at ya Tellurian!

Cos nobody can spin as well as you when you're on a roll. :crazy: :hi:

[Tellurian]

14. Hugs to you too..shorty! ;)nm

[neutron]

6. Despite the smear campaign launched by Edwards and

his gang in all of the blogs. boy have they invaded the blogs like termites.

[Tellurian]

9. Well, I saw where they are calling the duo Barack Edwards..

Eliminating the "and" between their names seems to draw the readers attention to the fact there is little difference between their campaign platforms.

[Cameron27]

12. It doesn't look as though the Edwards' attack campaign

has caused her any damage yet. I was hoping that she'd counter attack, but it looks like it might be better if she doesn't.

[Tellurian]

21. People are starting to pay attention..

To date, Hillary has run a flawless campaign. She is covering much more ground with her messages on Health Care, Iraq, Education, Social Security and her newly added plan for the Environment than her opponents who have gone negative and talk about Hillary's programs all day long. They have unequivocally given the general public a baseline to compare and contrast after listening to the Barack Edwards stump speeches, when they attend one of her appearances. It all works for her!

[desi]

28. The reason they have gone "swiftboating"

may be that Barack Edwards have come to the conclusion that if in fact she gets the nomination neither of them will be on the ticket as VP.

[Tellurian]

29. Excellent observation..

Although it remains to be seen if one of them will be dubbed a parasitic twin if either of them gains the nomination.

[William769]

15. These orgasms people have been having the past two days are

Shall I say premature...

[Tellurian]

17. You could call it that if you want..

more like political foreplay to me... all tease! :hi:

[William769]

18. FYI, I got out two days ago.

I will be unveiling my new website tomorrow. :hi:

[Tellurian]

22. mmm, mmm, good!

don't forget to email me a link..

:toast:

[mtnsnake]

27. Not just premature

but faked, too!

[DavidDvorkin]

25. Very different picture from Rasmussen daily numbers

See here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3518385&mesg_id=3693234

[Tellurian]

26. Rasmussen says...Hillary's recent numbers should not be viewed as a trend..

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_2008__1/2008_presidential_election/2008_democratic_presidential_primary

The Iowa and NH monthly Polls will be out next week. I love the graphs. Thanks for posting them..

[jefferson_dem]

32. Hillary in nosedive.

She measures at her lowest point since September - 39% - and is down 10 points in about two weeks.

Thanks for the line graphs!

[Mark E. Smith]

33. Rasmussen, as a Republican Poll, has no love ...

... for Clinton, the Democratic Party's strongest candidate.

Interesting to see "Democrats" taking comfort in Rasmussen's findings.