Few Paying Mind to Democratic Candidates

Most voters haven't started paying attention to the Democratic presidential race, says a poll released on Labor Day weekend — the campaign's traditional starting point.

Two-thirds of voters — including two-thirds of Democrats — were unable to name any of the Democratic candidates for president, said the CBS News poll out Sunday.

Joe Lieberman (news - web sites), Dick Gephardt (news - web sites) and Howard Dean topped the field in the poll, with relatively low numbers that suggest the race remains wide open.

Lieberman, Gephardt and Dean were the only three in double digits in support from registered Democrats. Lieberman, a Connecticut senator, had the backing of 14 percent; Gephardt, a Missouri congressman, was backed by 11 percent; and Dean, former governor of Vermont was at 10 percent. Other candidates were in single digits.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=703&e=3&u=/ap/20030831/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_poll

DTH

is running for President! They aren't that damn unawares!

some kids I know don't know who he is yet.

Wasn't he a lawyer for Nixon or something? Did he switch to Democrat? When did that happen?

He sells whole hog sausage. Or maybe it's James Dean, but I thought he was dead, or had gone back to his home planet.

Maybe they mean Mr. BEAN. I think he's electable.

:silly:

... last night. I was shocked, but encouraged that people really are paying attention.

Interesting and enlightening article, DTH, and thanks for posting it. Further proof that the liberal media is a myth...

They're the least known of the more major candidates. High undecideds are great for them. I mean, how much is support for Lieberman or Gephardt (who are already national figures) going to grow? The same thing for Kerry, but not as much, since he is less well known than those two, but more than Dean/Clark.

I think this poll reinforces the notion that it's NOT too late for Clark to jump into the race.

DTH

After all, what's the difference between knowing nothing about 9 candidates and knowing nothing about 10 candidates? :eyes: Clark fits right in because we don't even know what party he favors!! Yup. He's a natural. :puke:

But if you want to trumpet it, hey, knock yourself out.

:eyes:

http://www.meetclark.com/faq
http://www.draftwesleyclark.com/Biography.htm
http://www.draftwesleyclark.com/on_the_issues.htm

DTH

But if you want to trumpet it, hey, knock yourself out.

:eyes:

Most Americans don't care about the election yet. Clark has time.

did they ask democrats that just woke up from a coma in the last week?

seems to me lots of people know several Dems who are running. But then again. . .

They were saying he was gaining popularity rapidly in America.

If he's getting recognition in South Korea, surely there must be a few people who have heard of him over there? ;)

would like you to think that no one is paying attention to the Democratic Candidates. Keep telling the people that nobody is paying attention, and nobody will pay attention. I don't think that voting Americans, especially Democrats, are that blind. This is all BS as far as I'm concerned.

How can you peak too early when most of the country has never heard of you?? Most people I know are not into politics like we are. And with so many people who need to be educated and so much work to be done--even the Dean people have plenty of work to do. Peaking too early?--I highly doubt it.

So when I hear the concerns of "peaking too early"--it makes me laugh!

Outside of political junkies like myself, few people I know are even paying attention. And the High Crimes being perpetuated by this administration?....We know them well, but the general public doesn't have a clue. Remember, most people get the bulk of their news from local TV newscasts...if even that. They see the covers of magazines and newspapers at quickie marts and grocery stores, but rarely venture inside the pages.

Hate to say it, but our Internet family is a fairly closed society.

We need to express our views to anyone who will listen. Out there.

or ill-informed if they have access (just like us) to the internet?

As an example, lately, there have been several provocative and critical stories posted here from Yahoo. Don't a lot of Americans use Yahoo? There are many other internet sites with legitimate and accurate "news", too.

Of course, if the average person relies on local / national network TV for news...well, they're getting a very distilled and edited version of the real world.

I just don't know what to think anymore. But, I find it puzzling-if not disturbing-that only 1/3 of the electorate can name a Democrat running for president. Geez!

:dunce:

While they say 66% of Dems can't name any candidates, they also say that 40% are satisfied with the number of candidates and 50% want more candidates. That's 106-116%? Huh?? And these are supposedly "registered voters"?? :wtf:

how come Dean is doing so well in the Poll.

God, how I resent attempts to decide this election before the primaries have been held.

Americans are absolutely right to have no interest in anyone until the elections are on top of them. Many of these people are office holders, yet they spend all their time campaigning. It's obscene.

MY campaign reform law would forbid it. All of it. No campaigning. No fundraising until six months before primaries. No campaigning until six weeks before.

In our numb and number TV nation, only political junkies pay attention before the primaries.

And the 1/3 number seems quite consistent when you remember that half the nation doesn't vote. Half or better of Americans could care less about upper middle class white guys with corporate blather to spare; and, frankly, they may know something we don't.

Then there is the added problem of the candidates being rather unexceptional (apart from Kucinich and Sharpton, who at least think and sound different from the pack of doughy mainstream candidates). If you think Americans are going to get fired up about this little insider's game of the pre-pre-primary race, where positions flip faster than in a one-hour Kamasutra class, you're confusing Internet posting with reality. ;-)