Pre-speech poll

[metta 0]

Rasmusen poll today shows the impact of Rev. Wright issue on Obama.

It will be interesting to see how successful he will be in handling controversies when we compare this to ones that will be coming out llater after his speech slated for tomorrow.

Rasmussen

Poll: Majority Of Voters "Less Likely" To Vote For Obama Because Of Wright

Just 8% Have Favorable Opinion of Pastor Jeremiah Wright Monday, March 17,2008 Pastor Jeremiah Wright, who has become part of the national political dialogue in recent days, is viewed favorably by 8% of voters nationwide. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 58% have an unfavorable view of the Pastor whose controversial comments have created new challenges for Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign.

Wright was Obama’s Pastor until he retired last month, but Obama has repudiated the preacher’s comments.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of voters say that Wright’s comments are racially divisive. That opinion is held by 77% of White voters and 58% of African-American voters. In addressing the issue, Obama warned against injecting race into the campaign .

Most voters, 56%, said Wright’s comments made them less likely to vote for Obama. That figure includes 44% of Democrats. Just 11% of voters say they are more likely to vote for Obama because of Wright’s comments.

However, among African-Americans, 29% said Wright’s comments made them more likely to support Obama. Just 18% said the opposite while 50% said Wright’s comments would have no impact.

Overall, voters are evenly divided as to whether Obama should resign his membership in the Church—42% say that he should while 40% disagree. White voters, by a 46% to 33% margin, say that Obama should leave the Church. African-American voters, by a 68% to 16% margin, say he should not. Wright retired last month as Pastor of the Church.

The story became big news in the past several days and has had at least a temporary impact on public perceptions of Obama. Last Thursday, 52% of voters nationwide had a favorable opinion of Obama. That figure has fallen to 47% on Monday (see recent daily results). In recent days, Obama has also lost ground to John McCain in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters say they have read, seen, or heard news stories about Wright’s comments.

A recent Fox News report looked at the question of whether or not Wright is a political liability for Obama .

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[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Wow there's a pretty big difference of opinion here...

Poll: Majority of Democrats prefer Obama

(CNN) -- A majority of Democrats would like to see Barack Obama rather than Hillary Clinton win their party's presidential nomination, according to a national poll out Monday.

A new poll out Monday shows Democrats prefer Sen. Obama over Sen. Clinton to win the nomination.

1 of 2 Fifty-two percent of registered Democrats questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey say the senator from Illinois is their choice for president, with 45 percent supporting Clinton.

The poll also suggests Democrats are more enthusiastic about an Obama victory (45 percent) than for a victory by the senator from New York (38 percent).

The two remaining major candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination are locked in a fierce battle for their party's presidential nomination, with Obama holding a slight lead both in delegates and the overall popular vote in the primaries and caucuses to date.

"The same patterns that we have been seeing in recent exit polls are holding true for Democrats nationwide as well. Obama's biggest support comes from men, younger voters and independents who lean Democratic," CNN polling director Keating Holland said. "Clinton does best among women, older voters and whites. One interesting difference, unlike the exit polls in many states, there is no difference in the national poll between college-educated Democrats and those who never attended college."

The nomination could hinge on two major matters: superdelegates and the possibility of do-over primaries for Florida and Michigan.

The two states broke national Democratic Party rules by moving up the dates of their primaries to January. None of the major Democratic candidates campaigned in the two states, and Obama's name wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan.

The national Democratic Party also banned Florida and Michigan's delegates from attending the party's national convention this summer. But with the fight for the nomination nearly deadlocked and the reality that winning both Florida and Michigan is crucial for the Democrats to take back the White House in November, there's now a movement toward letting both states vote again. Watch more on the Florida, Michigan primaries »

Sixty-three percent of Democrats said the two states should hold new primaries, with 19 percent saying delegates from Florida and Michigan should be seated at the national convention based on the results of the January primaries, and 15 percent saying no delegates should be seated at all.

If Clinton and Obama finish the primary season with close to an equal number of pledged delegates, then superdelegates could decide which candidate wins the nomination.

There are nearly 800 superdelegates, mostly Democratic members of Congress, top elected state officials and leading members of the Democratic Party. Fifty percent of those polled say that it's a bad idea for the party to have superdelegates, with 42 percent supporting the system.

Since the party is not going to scrap the superdelegates, the big question is how they should base their vote for the nomination.

Democrats appear split on this question -- 49 percent say that superdelegates should base their votes on their view of who would be the best candidate; 46 percent say that superdelegates should base their votes on the results of the primaries and caucuses.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted by telephone March 14-16, with 1, 019 Americans questioned, including 463 registered voters who identify themselves as Democrats or independents who lean Democratic.

The survey has a sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/17/pol...rats/index.html

[simple_male 1]

Metta, I am sure you are happy. We have to watch for new polls after Obama's tomorrow speech in Philadelphia, PA.

Edited March 18, 2008 by simple_male

[metta 0]

Metta, I am sure you are happy. We have to watch for new polls after Obama's tomorrow speech in Philadelphia, PA.

Yes and no.

Yes, I am happy to see that Barack now gets to face the Test of his campaign or get vetted finally.

No, because, the primaries are too drawn out and both candidates are drawing too much blood. Does not portend well for the party or the prospects in the general.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Metta, I am sure you are happy. We have to watch for new polls after Obama's tomorrow speech in Philadelphia, PA.

Yes and no.

Yes, I am happy to see that Barack now gets to face the Test of his campaign or get vetted finally.

No, because, the primaries are too drawn out and both candidates are drawing too much blood. Does not portend well for the party or the prospects in the general.

Perhaps not - but from what I hear McCain is going to have an uphill battle unifying his party.

[simple_male 1]

Metta, I am sure you are happy. We have to watch for new polls after Obama's tomorrow speech in Philadelphia, PA.

Yes and no.

Yes, I am happy to see that Barack now gets to face the Test of his campaign or get vetted finally.

No, because, the primaries are too drawn out and both candidates are drawing too much blood. Does not portend well for the party or the prospects in the general.

But I think, Obama will come out strong. His speech will cover race, religion extensively. It will be a great speech. It is the Clintons who started drawing too much blood from NH. I am glad Madam Speaker's comment will favor Obama when she said the superdelegates should go with the candidate with most delegates earned and most popular votes earned.

Edited March 18, 2008 by simple_male

[SteveLaura 0]

The election is months away. How many of these people polled are even gonna remember Wright in Nov?

Edited March 18, 2008 by SteveLaura

[simple_male 1]

The election is months away. How many of these people polled are even gonna remember Wright in Nov?

It is good that Obama is dealing with it now with his super delegates, popular votes lead than right before the President election or before the primary began in IA.