Reuters: Clinton leads Obama, McCain in key matchups: poll

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080402/pl_nm/usa_politics_poll_dc


Reuters: Clinton leads Obama, McCain in key matchups: poll

Wed Apr 2, 9:04 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton holds a 9-point lead over rival Barack Obama among likely Pennsylvania Democratic primary voters ahead of the state's April 22 primary, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday.

Clinton, a New York senator who would be the first female president, leads the Illinois senator 50 percent to 41 percent, the poll found. She also runs better against the likely Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, in Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio -- all important swing states in the general election.

In a general election matchup in Florida, McCain closely trails Clinton 42 percent to 44 percent but McCain leads Obama, who would be the first black president, 46 percent to 37 percent, according to the poll.

"The difference between Clinton and Obama in Florida is the white vote," said Peter Brown of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

In Ohio, Clinton has a 48 to 39 percent lead over McCain after months of too-close-to-call results, the poll found. In an Obama-McCain matchup, Obama gets 43 percent against 42 percent for McCain.

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1. "The primary vote between Clinton and Obama splits sharply along racial lines.

The primary vote between Clinton and Obama splits sharply along racial lines.

Clinton leads 59 to 34 percent among white Pennsylvania likely primary voters while Obama leads 73 to 11 percent among black Democrats, the poll found.

Roughly 44 percent of people in all three states said the economy was the most important issue in their vote, while about a quarter of respondents said the war in Iraq is most important.

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2. Related news from the field: Clinton's "insourcing agenda."

Related news from the field:


At an economic summit in Pittsburgh organized Wednesday by her presidential campaign, the New York senator said she would eliminate tax breaks for companies that move jobs to other countries and use the savings to persuade companies to keep jobs in the U.S.

Clinton's plan would offer new tax benefits for research and job development. It would also create "innovation and research clusters" across the country and provide $500 million annually in investments to encourage the creation of high-wage jobs in clean energy.

Clinton called it her "insourcing agenda."

"We hear so much about outsourcing," she said. "We all know what that is. It's when we lose jobs to other countries. I want to put an end to it. We're going to change the tax code, we're going to change the giveaways to the special interests." ………..

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080402/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_pennsylvania;_ylt=AqzlQa4bBwSLWhoyfTUjJWsb.3QA

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3. Hillary to unions: I'm with you

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/elections/20080402_Hillary_to_unions__I_m_with_you.html

Posted on Wed, Apr. 2, 2008


Hillary to unions: I'm with you

By CHRIS BRENNAN
Philadelphia Daily News

[e-mail] 215-854-5973
U.S. SEN. HILLARY Clinton, attacking what she called the "Bush-McCain philosophy" of protecting only the wealthy and the well-connected, vowed yesterday to battle for organized labor.

Speaking in Philadelphia to the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, Clinton also repeated a series of economic criticisms of her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.

_ She said that while Obama talks about favoring clean energy, "when he had a chance to do something about it, he actually voted for Dick Cheney's energy bill. I voted against it."

That's a reference to a 2005 vote on legislation that started with the vice president's energy priorities but evolved into a series of negotiations in Congress.

_ She said Obama talks about universal health care but would leave out 15 million Americans, including 400,000 in Pennsylvania.

"I'm not just going to talk about universal health care," Clinton said. "I'm going to get it done."









Associated Press
Sen. Hillary Clinton shakes hands yesterday with Pa. AFL-CIO President Bill George after ending her address to the group.