NPR: Two New Polls Have Tough News for Clinton

Two New Polls Have Tough News for Clinton

Two new polls -- Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg and Washington Post/ABC News -- have some tough news for Sen. Hillary Clinton and lots of good news for Sen. Barack Obama.

The Times/Bloomberg poll shows that Clinton is "losing traction" to Obama in key states like Pennsylvania and Indiana. The survey found that she leads Obama by five-points in the Keystone State, 46% to 41% and is behind him by five-points in Indiana, 40% to 35%. In North Carolina, Obama has a 13-point lead. The survey was conducted under the supervision of the Times poll director. Over 600 people were surveyed in each state, and each survey had a margin of error of +/- four percent.

One interesting finding in the poll - the Rev. Jeremiah Wright flap appears to be helping, not hurting Obama in Pennsylvania: "24% said his handling of the issue made them think more highly of him; 15% said it made them think less highly of him; 58% said it made no difference in their views." But many in each state think the issue could "hamper him" in a general election.

One bit of good news for Clinton is that there are huge numbers of undecided in each state, 12% in Pennsylvania, 19% in Indiana and 17% in North Carolina.

Meanwhile, a Post/ABC poll shows finds that by a 2-1 majority, Democrats believe that Obama is more electable in the fall election. That's a significant blow to the Clinton campaign, which has made Obama's electability a major issue.

"The poll finds other pronounced problems for Clinton. Among all Americans, 58 percent now say she's not honest and not trustworthy, 16 points higher than in a precampaign poll two years ago. Obama beats her head-to-head on this attribute by a 23-point margin. The number of Americans who see Clinton unfavorably overall has risen to a record high in ABC/Post polling, 54 percent -- up 14 points since January. Obama's unfavorable score has reached a new high as well, up 9 points, but to a lower 39 percent."

But the poll also shows that Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are growing wearing of the campaign. Many believe it has become too negative and that the candidates spend too much time arguing about "things that really aren't important." And here is another bit of bad news for Clinton - most people blame Clinton for the problem, by a margin of 52% to 14 %, while 25% blame both equally.

8:45 AM ET | 04-16-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I wish that the good voters in New York state had come to the same feelings about Hillary before she appeared on that state's ballot as a senatorial candidate!

Sent by Larry Axsom | 9:21 AM ET | 04-16-2008

I just think it's funny that McCain bills himself as the straight talk express but I find Obama is the candidate who, again and again, speaks with candor and forthrightness.

Sent by Gabriel | 9:43 AM ET | 04-16-2008

My question is this...Has the campaign really become "too negative" or is the media simply choosing to lift every bit of negativity from the campaign, blasting it over the airwaves, splashing it across their front pages and having it dissected to death by their talking heads? So I wonder ... Will the campaign suddenly become "more civil" once the American people stop tuning-in?

Sent by Debbie G. | 9:43 AM ET | 04-16-2008

With less than a week to go before the Pennsylvania primary I would LOVE to see the rest of the time go by without the constant barrage of poll data that has been the standard fare so far.

I'm far more interested in hearing what people who are attending the rallies and speeches have to say as individuals.

Sent by JD | 10:03 AM ET | 04-16-2008

Hillary is making people bitter. The more she does so, the more they'll cling to McCain and the Republicans, having a downticket effect against the Democrats. Let's hope she can holster her ego after Pennsylvania if she doesn't win by 20% and do what's really best for the party: hang it up.

Sent by Sweetie | 10:13 AM ET | 04-16-2008

The media is the primary cause of Clinton's campaign being viewed as negative. I was watching a TV morning "news" show just yesterday when they said "the bitter war of words continues between Clinton and Obama" and then proceeded to some news clips where the candidates spoke very subtly and calmly and threw no harsh words. But apparently if the media and talking heads say they're bitter--then it must be so. We are being brainwashed for the sake of TV news ratings.

Sent by Karen | 10:30 AM ET | 04-16-2008

Please drop out Hillary. I love politics but this is getting old even for me.

Sent by Jeff Gonzalez | 11:03 AM ET | 04-16-2008

She would be crazy to drop out now after Obamas latest unrecoverable screw-up.

Even though the Jeremiah Wright thing seemed pretty bad, this latest one is actually worse. On top of that his aids say that he is "bewildered" that anybody took offense; total cluelessness.

Sent by deek | 12:22 PM ET | 04-16-2008

I like the Clintons and thought they made a good team in the 1990's. I do not see that they have changed with the times.

Part of the difficulty I have had with Hillary is that she started her whole campaign with the attitude "It's my turn now".

The simple fact of the matter is that she has yet to make a speech or statement comparable to Barack's speech on race.

Thus far the majority of "negativity" sems to be coming from her side of the campaign.

As far Barack's "bitter" statement, it only proves two things: 1. he is human and prone to error; and, 2. the media and the Clinton campaign have nothing more important to talk about.

As to the length of the campaign, I bet Florida and Michigan now wish they hadn't moved for an early primary.

Sent by Richard Harnack | 3:07 PM ET | 04-16-2008

Looks like somebody owes an apology to the voters for presuming they lack the acuity to make up their own minds about what the tradmedia tells them they ought to focus on and feel offended by.

nice try spinning spiders.

BTW i wonder if that's the same 15% who see the country moving on the right track after 7 years of W.P.E.

Sent by tim in exile | 3:08 PM ET | 04-16-2008

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