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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (13446)	3/13/2008 9:40:04 PM
From: ChinuSFO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

March 13, 2008, 8:00 pm Bill Clinton Gives More Voters Doubts About Electing His Wife Jackie Calmes reports on the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. Bill Clinton (my comment: Client #9) plainly has had an impact on his wife’s campaign — just not the one the couple intended. A plurality of 44% of registered voters say the fact that Hillary Clinton is married to the former president gives them reservations or makes them “very uncomfortable” about electing her, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. That is up by double digits from 33% who expressed reservations or discomfiture in a Journal/NBC poll last November, just as the 2008 nominating races were about to get underway. Digging deeper into the poll’s data reveals, not surprisingly, that of those who vote in Democratic primaries and caucuses, the ones with doubts about Hillary Clinton because she is married to Bill Clinton are voting for Barack Obama by a four-to-one margin; conversely, those enthusiastic or comfortable with having the mister as First Spouse vote for Hillary Clinton by two-to-one. These are among the findings unnoted or left on the cutting room floor when the Journal first reported on its latest poll, but which are worth returning to. Peter Hart, the Democratic pollster who conducts the Journal/NBC polls with Republican pollster Bill McInturff, contributed to a second, closer look. The March poll, which surveyed 1,012 registered voters last Friday to Monday, has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points; the margins of error are slightly higher for questions put only to Democratic voters or to Republicans. Along with the increased doubts about Bill Clinton, the former president also is viewed negatively by slightly more voters than the number that have positive feelings, by 45% to 42%. That is the first time in six years that Clinton’s “negatives” have exceeded his “positives” in the poll. By contrast, the other two candidate spouses — Republican Cindy McCain and Democrat Michelle Obama — both have net favorable ratings in their debuts in the Journal/NBC poll, though most voters report being neutral or unfamiliar with them. About Michelle Obama, 32% of voters are positive and 20% negative, with 48% neutral or unfamiliar. Two-thirds of voters are neutral or unfamiliar with Cindy McCain; 20% view her positively and 12% view her negatively. For what it’s worth: The poll shows a spike in negative feelings toward consumer advocate and quadrennial candidate Ralph Nader, who recently announced he would run for president again, as an independent. By 47% to 14%, voters reported negative views, an unfavorable score that is nearly 20 percentage points higher than in a Journal/NBC poll eight months ago. More poll miscellany, from Mr. Hart: When it comes to John McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, senior citizens are twice as likely to find him an inspirational and exciting choice for president as are 18- to 34-year-olds. As for the two Democrats’ virtual deadlock over nominating convention delegates: While Hillary Clinton trails in pledged delegates won in the primaries and caucuses to date, by a slight margin her backers say that a candidate who is behind in pledged delegates but wins with the added votes of superdelegates — the party leaders and elected officials who can choose any candidate — would be considered a legitimate nominee. Obama voters disagree by more than three to two.