WP, pg1: Democrats Willing to Let Battle Continue; Poll Shows Gains in Key Areas for Obama

[DeepModem Mom]

Democrats Willing to Let Battle Continue
Poll Shows Gains in Key Areas for Obama
By Dan Balz and Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 16, 2008; A01

Sen. Barack Obama holds a 10-point lead over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when Democrats are asked whom they would prefer to see emerge as the party's presidential nominee, but there is little public pressure to bring the long and increasingly heated contest to an end, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The fierce battle, however, appears to have taken a toll on the image of Clinton, who was once seen as the favorite. And Obama has widened his lead since early February on several key qualities that voters are looking for in a candidate and has narrowed sizable advantages for Clinton on others. He now has a 2-to-1 edge on who is considered more electable in a general contest -- a major reversal from the last poll -- and has dramatically reduced a large Clinton lead on which of the two is the "stronger leader."

While Clinton retains a big edge over Obama on experience, public impressions of her have taken a sharply negative turn. Today, more Americans have an unfavorable view of her than at any time since The Post and ABC began asking the question, in 1992. Impressions of her husband, former president Bill Clinton, also have grown negative by a small margin. In the new poll, 54 percent said they have an unfavorable view of Sen. Clinton, up from 40 percent a few days after she won the New Hampshire primary in early January. Her favorability rating has dropped among both Democrats and independents over the past three months, although her overall such rating among Democrats remains high. Nearly six in 10 independents now view her unfavorably.

Obama's favorability rating also has declined over the same period but remains, on balance, more positive than negative....

***

In hypothetical general-election matchups, Obama holds a slim, five-point lead over McCain, while McCain is three points ahead of Clinton, which is within poll's margin of error. But in the past six weeks, McCain has gained ground on each of his potential rivals....

Nearly six in 10 Democrats who are aligned with one of the candidates said they would prefer to see Clinton and Obama continue campaigning until one of them wins a clear victory, rather than bringing the fight to an early conclusion. And most Democrats say Clinton should stay in the race even if she comes up short in Pennsylvania: 79 percent of Clinton partisans would want her to fight on after what would be an unlikely loss, and more than a third of Obama supporters said she should stay in even if she is defeated there.

In the new Post-ABC poll, conducted just as the "bitter" controversy began, half of rural Democrats said they want Clinton to be the party's nominee, compared with 39 percent who prefer Obama. Suburban Democrats are divided about evenly between the two, and Obama has a 24-point advantage among those living in urban areas....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/15/AR2008041503586_pf.html

[John Q. Citizen]

1. This data is very telling -

"Today, more Americans have an unfavorable view of her than at any time since The Post and ABC began asking the question, in 1992."

It shows that the more she goes negative, the more she is hurting herself.

4 out of 5 of Sen. Clinton supporters apparently don't care what this is doing to their candidate's future political career chances. I get the feeling they are in denial about the harm the Clinton brand is suffering as a result of her attacks on Obama. Since they like her, they just can't fathom that others, to a greater and greater degree, don't like her.

I have the feeling many Clinton supporters will wake up one morning very bitter and disillusioned. Some will be looking for a scapegoat instead of attempting to understand the harn she has inflicted upon herself.

It's kind of tragic really.

[thereismore]

2. It does look like Obama has come out unscathed by Wright-gate and Bitter-gate. nt

[movonne]

3. This Wright-gate and Bitter-gate should not even be an issue...it is

really silly stuff...this is where this country is now and must change..

[thereismore]

4. Agreed. nt