It’s The Electability, Stupid
10 May 2008 8:58 pm by Taylor Marsh
Guest post by Grey
While some are suggesting that Sen. Clinton’s candidacy is dead, buried and gone, a mere a figment of her own imagination, voters are quite stubbornly disagreeing. According to this Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, both Sens. Clinton and Obama would beat Sen. McCain in November:
In a hypothetical matchup, the poll gave Illinois Sen. Obama 46% to McCain’s 40%, with 9% undecided. Clinton led McCain 47% to 38%, with 11% undecided. The nationwide poll, conducted May 1 through Thursday and released Friday, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The results represent a shift from a Times/Bloomberg poll in February, when McCain led Clinton by 6 percentage points and Obama by 2, within the poll’s margin of error.
The economy continues to be the issue that most concerns voters, clocking in at 56%; among those voters, more good news for Sen. Clinton:
Regardless of their choice for president, voters judged Hillary Clinton the most capable of the three candidates in handling economic policies. She garnered 32%, compared with 26% for Obama and 23% for McCain.
This is a national poll, and we don’t elect presidents this way, but this is one of the ways in which we attempt to measure the mood of the nation, and these numbers indicate that voters are in no mood to send Sen. Clinton packing. My suggestion for the media and Obama supporters alike is to calm down and let the process play out without trying to game it.
