NPR: Obama Utah Coup Less Likely; McCain Up in Polls

Obama Utah Coup Less Likely; McCain Up in Polls

John McCain stops in Utah Thursday to raise money in an overwhelmingly Republican state that hasn't been entirely friendly to the presumptive Republican nominee.

As we noted March 7 (2008 Headline: Utah Goes for Obama?!?!), it once looked like Democrat Barack Obama would challenge McCain in a November election match-up in Utah. A March poll by the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University had McCain leading Obama by just 10 points in a hypothetical presidential contest

Another March survey by the Deseret Morning News/KSL TV had McCain with just 30 per cent support among those polled. That's a political oddity in a state where some local Democratic candidates don't even pretend they can win and the entire Senate Democratic caucus could meet in a Starbucks and still leave plenty of empty seats.

Why wasn't John McCain embraced more enthusiastically? Well, he was one of the fiercest critics of federal spending for Salt Lake City's cherished 2002 Winter Olympics. And he's perceived as a spoiler in Mitt Romney's failed bid for the Republican nomination.

Romney is Mormon and so are most Utah politicians and voters. He won the Utah Republican primary with more than 90 percent of the vote. McCain helped Mike Huckabee defeat Romney in West Virginia by giving his convention delegates to the Arkansas evangelical, who also mobilized other evangelicals against Romney.

But time begins to heal all wounds. McCain's Utah fundraiser comes as a new poll indicates McCain's gaining wider acceptance among Utah Republicans. The latest Deseret Morning News/KSL TV survey has McCain's support up to 54 percent of those surveyed.

Pollster Dan Jones told the Deseret Morning News, "Obama is losing some of the glamour he once had, so today it's not as close as it once was between Obama and McCain."

Utah Democrats are still hopeful. The newspaper quotes Nikki Norton, a Utah organizer for the Obama campaign, who says she's surprised McCain isn't doing better in a state sometimes considered the most Republican in the nation. "I think Republicans should be concerned about that," Norton said. "It shows that Utahns are not necessarily that committed (to McCain)."

McCain hopes to raise $375,000 at a luncheon and reception in Salt Lake City. That would bring his Utah contributions to just over $500,000. Mitt Romney raised close to $6 million in Utah.

-- Howard Berkes

2:20 PM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I think it's generally too soon to talk about what might happen in November by what's polling in March.

Sent by Whatever happened to Super Tuesday? | 2:58 PM ET | 03-26-2008

Send a Comment

Comments are reviewed and edited by NPR prior to display. All comments will be read, but not all will be posted.

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

E-mail this Page

Recipient's e-mail address:	» Up to twelve addresses, separated by commas.
Your e-mail address:
Your name:
Personal message (optional, 600 characters max):
Your NPR member station:
Are you a member of your local NPR station?	Yes No
Would you like to receive information from your local NPR member station? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No
Please send me updates from NPR.	Yes No

(Information collected by NPR will be used solely for internal NPR or NPR member station purposes and only if you selected 'yes' above. See NPR's privacy policy for more information.)

Tom Regan

Blogger

About Us

This year's election cycle has been one of the most exciting in memory. At the NPR News Blog we'll do our best to bring you interesting, informative -- and controversial -- stories from our own reporters and bloggers, as well as the rest of the best of the Internet and blogosphere. And we hope you'll let us know what you think as well.

Want to learn more? Be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions and our discussion guidelines.