Gallup Poll: Many Democrats Ready to Vote McCain if Their First Choice Doesn’t Make It to November
Many Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supporters are ready to spurn the Democratic party and vote for John McCain in November if their candidate doesn’t win the presidential nomination, according to a new poll out Wednesday.
And a second poll out Wednesday shows most voters — including 85 percent of Democrats — believe there’s a chance that the battle between Clinton and Obama will not be resolved before the August convention.
Among people who identified themselves as Hillary Clinton supporters, 28 percent said they would vote for McCain if Obama is his opponent, the March 7-22 Gallup Poll Daily election tracking survey found.
The same poll found that 19 percent of Obama supporters would switch sides and cast ballots for McCain if Clinton is the Democratic candidate.
The survey interviewed 6,657 Democratic voters nationwide and had a margin of error of 2 percent.
Click here to read the Gallup Poll discussion of the survey.
Gallup analysts note that the results could change by November, by which time Democrats will have made great efforts to unify the party.
Gallup analysts also noted that voters tend to threaten party desertion but don’t necessarily do so. A recent Gallup survey found that 11 percent of Republican voters said they would vote for a different party or not at all if McCain doesn’t pick a running mate who is more conservative than he is.
Historically, the party-switch factor has shown to be less dramatic, Gallup analysts said. Less than 10 percent of Republicans and Democrats crossed party lines in pre-election Gallup polls from 1992 to 2004.
In the second poll, Rasmussen Reports found that 87 percent of all voters — and 85 percent of Democrats — believe it is “somewhat likely” that both Clinton and Obama will remain in the race until the convention. Fifty-two percent of Democrats said it is “very likely” the nomination won’t be decided until the convention.
The Rasmussen poll (March 24-25, 800 likely voters, +/- 4 percentage points) also found that there’s equal dislike on either side of the Democratic race for the rival candidate: 22 percent of both Clinton and Obama supporters said they believe the other candidate should drop out of the race.
Good! There is hope for us yet.
I am so proud to hear this from America’s democrats, not the party leading LIBERALS such as Obama and Clinton. In fact, McCain needs the help of the smart democrats to win. Obama nor Clinton can win this election. I urge Obama supporters to rally for a McCain/Obama ticket if Rice is not chosen for McCain.
Go Hillary, No To Obama. Either it is Hillary I go McCain. A McCain vote is to ensure that the radical Obama does not become president. We don’t need his lies, his hateful church and his radical ways. Who knows who Obama will pick to be by his side, could it be Rev Wright.
What a bunch of idiots. This democrat (mother of 3, 51 yr old white attorney) is voting for Obama, but if my party chooses Clinton I will vote for Clinton. I want to say it is because of the position I hold against the war so I pause here when I listen to what I am typing. So I may sound like an idiot too, particularly because Hillary had a pathetic response to the Iraq war too. But, she did say if she could take it back she would, and I hope it is not just because it is politically correct for her to admit that. But I am outraged that the United States Citizens would put someone in the White House AGAIN who supports the Iraq war. I do not think that I should have to explain that. We are in trouble people. 4000 dead, triple that ( or more) emotionally, physically, sexually traumatized. An economy in shambles, the laughing stock of the rest of the world, the dollar devalued and our kids playing video games and failing math. Hispanics putting our roofs and bricks on our buildings…. and our kids playing video games????? Parents, still racists, sexist, and buying lattes as if the sky aint gonna fall. Foster kids languishing away why our main emphasis on our voting pattern is the abortion issue, while our kids though their garbage from McDonalds and their beer bottles out the window and we have a terrible environmental set of ethics. Come on, grow up!
I have voted for every U.S. President since I was able to vote at 18 (now 46). As such, I have been proud to vote as a Democrat. I am a Senator Hillary Clinton supporter, and I believe she would be a fantastic Commander-in-Chief unlike Senator Barack Obama who, in my opinion, is all “smoke and mirrors.” At least with a Clinton, you know what to expect!! Anyway, if Hillary does not win the nomination, I will be one of the Democrats who will vote Republican. I do not believe that Barack Obama has the judgment to be the President of the United States.
I’ve already made up my mind to vote for McCain, there is way too much nonsense going on within the Democratic Party.
If John McCain does NOT pick Gov Romney as his VP choice then his 1) Stupid and 2) I will not vote for him!
I am one of those Clinton supporters who would vote for McCain. Experience speaks to me. Also, OBama is too far left for me.
Of course these threats are coming out now, but the truth is you have to be an imbecil to “party-switch” because the two sides are so far apart. If you don’t like McCain because he isn’t conservative enough then Obama or Clinton is not an option much the same if you don’t like Obama or Clinton then McCain couldn’t be an option. The idea that someone would even say something like that is just mind-boggling and just goes to show that a majority Americans are narcisistic, self-serving and infantile.
The polls never ask the right people, and as the polls have shown, the polls are wrong. There are considerably more people who are going to switch. Everyone that I have talked to said that if Billary gets in, they will vote for Senator McCain. On the other hand, I know some Republicans that will vote for Senator Obama in the general election if he makes it, but will settle for Senator McCain if Billary gets the nomination.