Obama Narrows Gap With Clinton

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

Obama Narrows Gap With Clinton
By JOHN HARWOOD
April 26, 2007; Page A6

ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- Sen. Barack Obama has pulled close to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll that suggests doubts about his electability are diminishing. As all Democratic presidential candidates gather here for their first televised debate tonight, the poll shows Mr. Obama trailing Mrs. Clinton by 31% to 36%; 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards runs a solid third with 20%. Last month, Mr. Obama lagged 12 percentage points behind.

Moreover, the poll shows that rank-and-file Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters don't perceive a wide gap between the two front-runners in their ability to defeat the Republican nominee in next year's general election; 39% say Mrs. Clinton has the "best chance," while 32% say Mr. Obama does. The finding indicates that, just as the first-term Illinois senator's robust early fund-raising has undercut one of Mrs. Clinton's presumed advantages, his relative inexperience hasn't emerged as a major impediment in his competition with the former first lady who now represents New York in the Senate.

(snip)

But in the showdown between the White House and congressional Democrats over establishing a timeline for a troop drawdown, the poll shows, most Americans side with Congress by a lopsided 56% to 37%... And though Republicans criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in recent days for suggesting that the war in Iraq is "lost," the survey suggests the American public is reaching a similar conclusion. A 55% majority says victory in Iraq is no longer possible; 36% say victory remains within reach. Desire for action on Iraq dominates the public's agenda and dwarfs other issues in importance. Some 50% of Americans call Iraq a top priority for Mr. Bush, double the proportions who point to health care, illegal immigration, terrorism or energy. In nearly identical proportions, they call Iraq the top priority for 2008 presidential candidates as well.

(snip)

Mr. Edwards has also proved resilient. His support among Democrats rose to 20% from 15% last month, before his wife, Elizabeth, announced she is suffering from a recurrence of cancer. Mr. Edwards continues to lead polls in Iowa, which kicks off the selection of nomination delegates in precinct caucuses next January. Other Democrats have so far failed to make a national impact. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska all receive support of 3% or less in the survey. Yet the survey is bullish for the Democratic Party as a whole. In addition, the contours of public opinion suggest a continuing dilemma for Republican candidates during the nomination process. Though Mr. Bush remains popular with most rank-and-file Republicans, Americans overall, 74% to 21%, say they want the next president to take a different approach from the incumbent.

(snip)

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117753516047082551.html (subscription, but if anyone can find the public link, please post)

[patrice]

1. I just heard some strong hostility from . . . ?

. . . how do you characterize people who are registered as Democrats, and more often than not they vote that way, but they're not actively interested in the details of what's going on and have rather general impressions of the candidates at this point. They're not the "Grassroots" because they're not politically active, except when they vote, so maybe they're more like the earth in which the Grassroots grow . . . anyway, that kind of Democrat, two of them actually, just expressed definite hostility toward Obama, saying things such as "talking out of both sides of his mouth" and "devious". It was disturbing! I'm not an Obama supporter myself, but I want ALL of the candidates given a fair break.

Anyhow, my opinion is that "Obama doesn't say anything definite" is beginning to become a **PROBLEM** and is translating into double-talk and un-trustworthiness amongst some social classes, who will then become real fodder for the Racists amongst us. Yes, we're talking about "White" folks here. People are very stressed out and anyone who isn't just real clear about their leadership and what **exactly they intend** is going to be perceived as un-trustworthy and there are plenty of people around who will exploit that in the same manner as they did with Kerry. Obama needs to stop listening to the DLC.

[question everything]

2. Yes, there are two kind of voters, not only Democrats

but also Republicans.

One kind, the activists, really look into where a candidate stands and will debate with others for and against. Will make the arguments here, on DU, red hot. Sadly, many of them voted for Nader in 2000, stayed home in 1968 because they did not trust Humphrey and probably will stay home if Clinton is the nominee.

These are voters, people, really, who'd rather be "right" than win. Who'd stay on principles while seeing the county getting worse and worse because our side continues to lose "on principles."

Then there are the rest of us, who realize that politics is the art of compromise, that each one of us has his/her own vision of the ideal candidate but that at the end of the day we have to take over the White House and Congress to get the country back on the right track - working for the people, not for special interest groups.

And this is why Obama is so appealing, why so many wanted Oprah to run for office, or other celebrities who can galvanize the voters, even without the specifics.

This is why Guiliani heads the Republicans line. Because he is "American Mayor" and he can charm and attract many average voters, who will not bother to study the details of his track record prior to 9/11 or even of where he stands now.

Most of us here, on DU, seek substance. This is why we have this place. But most voters do not have the patience nor the time to study each candidate. They go by their image, their appearance, the way they carry themselves and reduce complex ideas to simple sentences, to slogans a-la "it's the economy, stupid."

Sadly, both Gore and Kerry were too brainy for their own good, could not relate to regular folks and this is one reason why they lost.

So if Obama can connect with average voters, as it appears he is doing, then let's go for him. The specifics will come once he is elected and I trust him to gather the best and the brightest to form his cabinet.

[illinoisprogressive]

3. One of the things that is Obama's great strength is the ability to bring people together

Yes, we have alot of reasons to be angry and to seek revenge but, we also are going to face some incredible problems from the destruction of the Bushies. We need as many as possible to come together in a common purpose of repairing our country and bring it back from the brink.
Obama is an intellectual and has the depth to understand the problems. He is also savvy enough to bring the best this country has to fix what is going to be some huge problems.

[patrice]

4. That's why this surprised me.

Even though I like Richardson most at this point (for his most aggressive plan to get the U.S. out of Iraq without leaving any residual forces behind), and I DO wish Obama would talk about Iraq in as unequivocal a manner has Richardson does, I don't see Obama as shifty at all, so I was trying to figure out where the responses I heard were coming from. They were made by my sisters, BTW, and it surprised me to hear them be so suspicious about someone I regard as more honest than some others. I will explore the issue later, after my sisters see the debate tonight, but my hypothesis is that people are not picking up anything real concrete that Obama has said about his plans (I also heard that from some community college students at a war protest). Because there is nothing concrete that he has said, that they can "hang their hat on", racist-types (and yes there is one in my family, an in-law) are exploiting that to make him look un-trustworthy.

Barak Obama needs to start talking very concretely about his plans soon, in order to get out ahead of the Racists, who are already trying to destroy him. He needs to identify himself better to those who don't know him, or who haven't made their minds up already. The sooner the better.

[Colobo]

5. That's called MOMENTUM...

[AtomicKitten]

6. Gobama.