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Title: Both Democrats Are Looking Like Damaged Goods - Exit Polls Show Many Party Voters Could Back McCain
Source:
Wall Street Journal
URL Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120 ... 409.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
Published: Apr 23, 2008
Author: LAURA MECKLER and T.W. FARNAM
Post Date: 2008-04-23 16:09:28 by mirage
Keywords: None
Views: 248
Comments: 14
The long, bitter contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seems to be taking a toll on the enthusiasm that once permeated the Democratic electorate. Exit polls of Pennsylvania Democrats Tuesday found that roughly one in three voters had serious concerns about at least one of the presidential contenders. SIGNS OF TROUBLE A quarter of voters said they would be dissatisfied if Sen. Clinton were the nominee; an even greater number said they would be dissatisfied if it is Sen. Obama, according to results from the exit poll conducted for the National Election Pool. Perhaps even more worrying for the Democrats: One in four Clinton supporters said they would vote for Sen. John McCain if Sen. Obama is the Democratic nominee. Sixteen percent of Obama backers said they would choose Sen. McCain over Sen. Clinton. To be sure, the poll of 2,270 voters, taken at 40 polling places across the state, was conducted after six weeks of attacks and counterattacks aimed from one Democrat at the other. The fall election is still more than six months away, giving Democrats time to unify behind their eventual nominee. Still, Tuesday's polling included some troublesome findings for Democrats. About one-third of voters said Sen. Clinton isn't in touch with "people like you." About the same number said Sen. Obama isn't. More than four in 10 voters said Sen. Clinton isn't honest and trustworthy. About three in 10 said the same of Sen. Obama. Many voters, it seems, were like Vivian Parel, 59 years old, a Clinton supporter who cast her ballot at Bensalem High School in a Bucks County suburb northeast of Philadelphia. She said that she found Sen. Obama's campaign short on substance and that she thought he was arrogant. Ms. Parel, a nurse who came to the U.S. from the Philippines in 1975, was also turned off by his wife, Michelle Obama, who told an audience in February that she was really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life. She said she was skeptical that Mrs. Obama would be so negative, given her education. "After being in Harvard because of the United States? No way," Ms. Parel said. Harry Wilson, 71, of Philadelphia, cast his vote for Sen. Obama, saying Republican antipathy toward Sen. Clinton would make it hard for her to get anything done in Washington. "I don't want an oligarchy," said Mr. Wilson, a retiree from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. Mr. Wilson said putting Sen. Clinton in the White House would amount to "two families running the country for 28 years -- which I think is absolutely absurd." Many voters thought the candidates unfairly attacked one another. More than two-thirds said Sen. Clinton attacked Sen. Obama unfairly; about half said the same of Sen. Obama. Those numbers were up from March primaries in Texas and Ohio, when just over half of Democratic voters said Sen. Clinton attacked unfairly and about one-third said that Sen. Obama did so. Indeed, the harsh attacks that have been leveled on the stump and over television ads upset Pennsylvania voters more than any since South Carolina, when charges of race-baiting turned that contest particularly nasty. In subsequent contests, a large number of Democrats -- about six in 10 -- believed that at least one candidate attacked the other unfairly. In Pennsylvania, it rose to eight in 10 once again. Many of the attacks were delivered in 30-second spots that saturated the airwaves. About half of voters in Pennsylvania said these campaign ads were important in their decision, and these people tended to favor Sen. Clinton. Her spots both trumpeted her own abilities and attacked Sen. Obama for saying rural voters "cling" to guns, religion and antitrade sentiment because they are discouraged by economic hardships. In his response spots, Sen. Obama charged Sen. Clinton wasn't focused on solutions for the country. Economic distress hung over the election, as it has in other states. Nine in 10 voters thought the economy was in a recession, with about half saying it was a serious recession. Most voters thought both candidates would be able to improve the economy. But again, there was dissatisfaction. One in four voters said Sen. Clinton would not improve the economy, and one in three said the same of Sen. Obama. Asked to choose between three issues -- the economy, the war in Iraq and health care -- more than half of voters said the economy was most important. Sen. Clinton won those voters who picked the economy and health care; Sen. Obama won voters most concerned about Iraq. Asked to choose among four candidate qualities, about half picked "can bring about needed change," and those voters strongly favored Sen. Obama. Early exit polls also found: Gender seemed to be a plus for Sen. Clinton, while race was a negative for Sen. Obama. One in five voters said gender was an important factor in their vote, and a solid majority of them voted for Sen. Clinton. Similarly, about one in five voters said race was an important factor for them, but most of those voters voted against Sen. Obama. Sen. Obama's comments about bitter voters and their guns didn't do him any good with nearly four in 10 voters who own a gun or live with someone who does. They sided with Sen. Clinton by a sizeable majority. As expected, Sen. Clinton did best in rural areas, while Sen. Obama had his strongest showing in the big cities. As in past races, women, whites and older voters favored Sen. Clinton, while men, blacks and young voters favored Sen. Obama. About 15% of voters were new to a Democratic primary, and they split for Sen. Obama 2 to 1.
• Worry for Democrats: Exit polling in Pennsylvania reveals deep splits that could hurt the party's chances in November.
• Going Negative: Many voters thought both candidates unfairly attacked one another.
• Time to Heal? The fall election is more than six months away, giving Democrats a chance to unify behind their nominee.
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#1. To: mirage (#0)
Is this why the Demos are called the Stupid Wing of the Party?
Usually, its that the Democrats are the Evil Party and the Republicans are the Stupid Party*. *Subject to role reversal without notice.
#11. To: mirage (#4)
*Subject to role reversal without notice. LOL Exactly.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest• Worry for Democrats: Exit polling in Pennsylvania reveals deep splits that could hurt the party's chances in November.
#4. To: Vitamin Z (#1)
Is this why the Demos are called the Stupid Wing of the Party?
Replies to Comment # 4. Usually, its that the Democrats are the Evil Party and the Republicans are the Stupid Party*.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 4.