Dems Don’t Want Clinton to Be Obama’s No. 2, Poll Shows

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Democrats generally like the idea of Barack Obama joining Hillary Clinton’s ticket if she wins the nomination, but apparently cringe at the thought of Clinton tagging along with Obama should he be the nominee, according to a new Gallup poll out Tuesday.

The poll underscores the deep divide in the Democratic race, as the candidates continue to slug it out in the run-up to the April 22 Pennsylvania primary.

The Gallup poll, taken from March 24-27 of 502 Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents, found 58 percent of those surveyed would want Obama to be the vice presidential candidate if Clinton wins the Democratic nomination. Forty-one percent would want the New York senator to pick someone else.

In stark contrast, only 42 percent said they would want Clinton to be the vice presidential nominee if Obama wins the nomination. Fifty-five percent would want to see the Illinois senator pick somebody else. The survey had a margin of error of 5 percent.

The apparent bitterness among Democrats demonstrated in the new poll is a reminder of another Gallup poll a week ago that found a significant number of Democratic voters were willing to spurn their own party and vote for John McCain in November if their candidate does not win. That poll found 28 percent of Clinton supporters would vote against Obama if he won; it found 19 percent of Obama supporters would vote against Clinton.

The poll also revives the sensitive debate that entered the race shortly before the March 11 Mississippi primary, when Obama lashed out at Clinton’s campaign for suggesting he would make a great vice president on her ticket.

“I don’t know how somebody in second place is offering vice president to the person in first place,” he said at the time, before winning that primary.

Clinton continues to trail in national surveys, but the latest Gallup tracking poll showed a narrowing race. The poll gave Clinton 45 percent to Obama’s 49 percent — a slimmer gap than in previous polls where Obama’s lead climbed to as large as 10 points. The poll showed McCain with a 2-point edge over both Democratic candidates in hypothetical head-to-head general election match-ups.

But Obama has been making up ground elsewhere.

In Pennsylvania, where Obama has been steadily trailing by double digits in recent weeks, the latest Rasmussen poll showed him trailing by just 5 points.

The poll, taken March 31 of 730 likely voters, showed him with 42 percent to Clinton’s 47 percent.

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