New USA Today/Gallup Poll shows Obama is a stronger general election candidate than Hillary

FYI, the Gallup poll data only had head-to-head match ups with Obama and Hillary v. Huckabee, Romney, and Giuliani.



This data echoes the November SurveyUSA Election Poll if Iowa likely caucus voters which said Obama will fare significantly better than Hillary
in the general election. Obama easily beats all of his Republican opponents (with 50% or more against each of them), while Clinton's margin
is significantly slimmer against Giuliani, Romney, and Huckabee while she loses to McCain. The pertinent facts from the SurveyUSA poll:



According to this poll data, Obama is clearly more electable than Hillary in the general election.

The rest of DU will collectively put its blinders on and start with the insults while they are given free rein to break the rules.

About everything. Fortunately, I've got a pretty thick skin and a high tolerance for sockpuppetry. :-)

They were only polling HRC vs. the Republicans. But what about HRC and GHWB? That dynamic duo will easily best the field!

17. Imagine that difficult circumstances come up on Election Day next year that would ordinarily prevent you from voting in an election. If that were the case, would you make a greater effort to still get out and vote for president if Hillary Clinton were the Democratic candidate rather than Barack Obama, (or would you make a greater effort to vote) if Barack Obama were the Democratic candidate rather than Hillary Clinton] -- or would you make the same effort to vote regardless of whom the Democratic candidate is?

Greater effort if Clinton were the candidate : 16
Greater effort if Obama were the candidate : 7
Would make same effort regardless : 74
No opinion : 3

Of the two, I prefer Obama and despise Clinton. However I despise Clinton enough less than each and every one of the republican candidates, that on election day I will do whatever it takes to vote for the Democratic nominee, even if it's Clinton.

I read the question and decided that my answer was with the 74% - I would make the same (huge) effort regardless. I still prefer Obama by far.

But isn't it interesting that there are more Hillary supporters who would blow off voting for Obama, if voting were somewhat difficult, than the other way around?

If Hillary is your candidate would you make more of an effort
If Obama is your candidate would you make more of an effort
No difference in effort regardless of candidate
and
No Opinion.


I keep seeing the data (from a few different places) saying that Hillary's core supporters are more solidly supportive. If my read on the above is correct, the small percentage gap supports that a bit. I don't have links...I didn't think to track it. So... it's anecdotal info on my part.

If i'm correct, it could be a factor. Small possibly, but still a factor.

Without some moderate Republican and independent support, the Democratic candidate would have a tough time winning the election, especially since we are guaranteed to see Republican dirty tricks as we saw in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. Their dirty tricks requires a close election to work for them.

Clinton, in my opinion, will bring out a strong showing by right-wingers for any Republican. She has been successfully demonized by the right-wingers for years. This is baggage that can hurt not only her chances of winning, but could cause problems for Democrats in Congressional and local races in several states. I see so few posts on DU where there is any discussion about how a particular candidate for president might affect voter turnout, and hence other races, in some of the battleground states. It is not enough to merely elect a Democratic president. Democrats need to ensure that whoever is elected president, has a Democratic majority in Congress. Otherwise, we will get legislative gridlock, and none of the changes and reforms we are working for will happen.

Of the top three Democrats, I believe that John Edwards is the "safest" candidate we can run. His populist message can resonate with moderate Republicans and independents, and he doesn't have the baggage that Clinton has. As Edwards has pointed out, health care reform and environmental issues will require taking on corporate interests, and appealing to the public to support reforms in those areas. Of the top three Democratic candidates (actually, compared to all of the candidates), Edwards has the best experience in taking on large corporations and successfully beating them. He had to appeal to juries composed of people across the political spectrum, and he won many cases that looked to be unwinnable.

Obama has charisma and a lot of appeal, but in watching him in the debates and some TV interviews, I don't think he is ready for prime time. He is young, and with more experience in the Senate, he would make a great candidate in 2016. However, in this crucial election, my first choice is John Edwards.

Edwards does better than both of them. Care to show his stats? If we go by which one can best win in a general it's Edwards hands down!:woohoo: :woohoo:

You said it, you prove it.

when they continually showed Hillary in the lead earlier, we were told to ignore the Polls because they weren't speaking for the People or something. They were corporate-owned, not reliable, not trustworthy, so on and so forth. But now with Obama in the Lead, we're supposed to believe them? Why? What's changed?

However this late into the game, when there are polls coming out everyday, numbers begin to be somewhat more important.
Trend lines are always important, which is why I provided a comparative analysis of a similar poll done a month ago. You
don't need to like the poll data to see my logic.

The kind the GOP are good at stealing. Just like the last two.

It is not enough to elect a Democratic president, we have to consider the top candidate's affect on turnout, and the effect for Democrats in other races as well. I discuss this in another response in this post.

he's either going to lose spectacularily or win by a razor thin margin.

Why roll the dice on our future?

:)