In Poll, Obama Survives Furor, but Fall Is the Test

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: In Poll, Obama Survives Furor, but Fall Is the Test
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MARJORIE CONNELLY
Published: May 5, 2008


(Doug Mills/NYT)
Senator Barack Obama courted voters on Sunday in Fort Wayne, Ind.

WASHINGTON — A majority of American voters say that the furor over the relationship between Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor has not affected their opinion of Mr. Obama, but a substantial number say that it could influence voters this fall should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

At the same time, an overwhelming majority of voters said candidates calling for the suspension of the federal gasoline tax this summer were acting to help themselves politically, rather than to help ordinary Americans. Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, has made the suspension of the gas tax a centerpiece of her campaign in recent days....

The poll, conducted after Mr. Obama held a news conference on Tuesday in which he renounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., for making incendiary comments, found that most Americans said they approved of the way Mr. Obama had responded to the episode and considered his criticism of Mr. Wright appropriate.

But nearly half of the voters surveyed, and a substantial part of the Democrats, said Mr. Obama had acted mainly because he thought it would help him politically, rather than because he had serious disagreements with his former pastor. The broader effect of the controversy on Mr. Obama’s candidacy among Democratic primary voters was less clear in the poll, but enough of them expressed qualms about Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Wright to suggest it could sway a relatively small but potentially important group of voters in the remaining primaries....

***

...the survey suggested that Mr. Obama, of Illinois, had lost much or all of the once-commanding lead he had held over Mrs. Clinton, of New York, among Democratic voters on the question of which of them would be the strongest candidate against Mr. McCain, of Arizona....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/us/politics/05poll.html

[thereismore]

1. "but Fall Is the Test" - is this author a killjoy or what. What a lame title. Of course

Fall is the test if Obama is the nominee!!!

[Triana]

2. Whether or not they have athlete's foot could influence voters this Fall too...

..seriously. Some voters choose a candidate in the booth for totally dumbass reasons.

Not slamming you at all DMM (love your posts) - but this article is v.poorly written. Typical media propaganda.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. The poll does seem to be presented differently from CBS's article re. the same poll...

posted here several times last night.

On edit -- You're right. The reasons some people give for their choice of candidate are astounding.