Poll: Bitter Battle Hurting Obama, Clinton
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are suffering in the polls from their prolonged and increasingly bitter primary fight, a new Wall Street Journal-NBC News survey suggests.
The poll, released Wednesday, showed Obama’s speech on race and the attention paid to comments by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, so far have had little effect on the Democratic race. The survey showed the Democratic candidates are still in a dead heat, each with 45 percent support among Democrats.
But the candidates have individually lost ground with voters — more voters see the Democrats in a negative light than they did just two weeks ago in a similar poll. This is especially true for Clinton.
The poll, taken from March 24-25 of 700 registered voters, showed 48 percent of voters view Clinton negatively, compared with the 37 percent who view her positively. Just two weeks ago, 43 percent viewed her negatively and 45 percent viewed her positively.
For Obama, 32 percent view him negatively and 49 percent view him positively. That’s a slight change from two weeks ago, when 28 percent viewed him negatively and 51 percent viewed him positively.
This could bode well for presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, whose numbers have stayed strong as Obama and Clinton bicker. McCain was still viewed positively by 45 percent of those surveyed, compared with just 25 percent who viewed him negatively.
Obama has had to respond in recent weeks to videos of Wright’s sermons, including one in which he shouts “God damn America” for its treatment of minorities. Wright also has said the U.S. government invented AIDS to destroy “people of color” and has suggested U.S. policies were to blame for the 9/11 attacks.
In a speech last week, Obama rejected Wright’s divisive comments but stood by him otherwise and said it is time for the country to address its racial schism.
By 55 percent to 32 percent, more who had seen or heard about Obama’s speech said they were satisfied with his explanation of his association with Wright than said they were dissatisfied.
Yet people familiar with Obama’s remarks were about evenly split between those who said they felt reassured about his feelings on race, and those who said they still had doubts. Slightly more said Obama has said enough about race than said he needs to address it further.
In all instances, whites were more dubious than blacks about whether Obama had handled the issue successfully. Democrats were far more supportive than Republicans, while independents were likelier to be divided.
Meanwhile, Clinton has helped keep the issue on the radar screen, saying for the first time this week that Wright would not have been her pastor.
Click here to see the Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NEITHER WILL COME OUT ON TOP BEFORE THE CONVENTION IN AUGUST UNLESS CLINTON PULLS OUT OF THE RACE AS SHE STANDS A CHINAMANS CHANCE IN HELL OF WINNING. THEY HAVE SPLIT THE PARTY WHICH MEANS MORE VOTERS WILL GO FOR MCCAIN THAN EITHER OF THESE TWO.
cLINTON HAS GOT TO TURN THIS CONTEST OVER TO B.H.OMBAMA FOR THE DEMOCRATS TO EVEN HAVE A CHANCE OF WINNING.
HILLARY IT IS TIME TO GET OUT NOW. DON’T YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE CALLING FOR THIS? AS YOU SAY YOU LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE. OVER 60% ARE AGAINST YOU IN YOUR OWN PARTY.
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This poll should come as no surprise to anyone. No matter who your candidate of choice is, many people are getting tired of the nastiness and overall negative tone that this campaign is taking. While it’s true that the issue about Obama’s pastor was damaging, the damage causing Hillary’s negative poll numbers seems to be more self-inflicted, with the latest wound being her “landing under sniper fire” comment.
I don’t think it matters who fired the first shot in this campaign, this bitterness has to stop, otherwise there will be little chance of victory for the Democrats in November.
If Obama gets the Democratic presidential nomination over Clinton I will vote for McCain. If not my vote will go to Clinton. Either way we are in trouble. But if we get Obama we are in big trouble.
These polls may mean something if they were truly “random” but we know they’re not depending on whose doing the polling. Apparently each campaign has their own pollster. Therefore, they are going to poll those who are most favorable to themselves. Even the national pollsters have a favorite candidate. So much for polls.
I think what people do in there person life is there own bussness and we as a nation that needs to deal with our country problems and what they are going to do specifics to solve Americans problem. I don’t think I want them to repesent me as a person with there sad finnding on each other. The presdent is going to repensent America-America the people, what do you think other country are going to think about us as a people. Were supose to have love for all man kind, help other nation become free, be example for our children coming up and going to run this world. I dont want our image of Americans people to be like other nationa think we are. Why do you think so many nations hate us know. Because we hang everthing out on a close line and point our finger to others, What did he say about pointing to other and not changing our own self? Know i would like to asked you a question. Our you looking at this note, what a bad speller or what it contains.
Obama speech was great!!!!!. Fox News and Hillary are misleading the voters with ngative news and gossip. Fox News change your negativity on Obama.
Fox, you need to work on your titles. They are so biased and unprofessional. What is wrong with you? Aren’t you PUBLIC media? If you continue this type of political coverage, you will end up being the most disingenuous media America has ever had. Or may be you don’t care about the public.
The reason whites don’t understand what is going in BLACK America; is beacuse there not black -and has never encountered the hate that blacks experience on a day-to-day basis. You have Rev. Wright saying things that people strongly disagree with, but on the other hand you have whites who is seeking to kill him. He (Wright) has never threatened to bring harm to anyone just merely expressing (his veiws) of white America.
Hillary has made some documented untrue statements (her own words and veiws) and she misspoke. If some white people and some black people, think racism is not alive and well something is truely wrong. It would be really nice for the news to be more focused on issues that is affecting people lives everyday. I know Sen. Clinton said you couldn’t choose your family but you can choose your what church you attend. I just want too note one-thing you can also choose your spouse; and just because your spouse do things that is not favored by many does that mean you agree with everything they say and do even if it is wrong or disliked.
Ms. Angela
I’m very alarmed that this kind of rhetoric can be down played when people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be all over a white person for saying something of this nature! Reference the “Nappy-headed ho” remark made by a well-known radio announcer. That remark cost him his job. Our country will never overcome racial bias if people like Rev. Wright keeps churning this type of mindset out to the general black public. I have never owned a slave or even seen a plantation. Every black person I know has never been a slave or picked one piece of cotton in their lives. Our country can get over race if people like Rev Wright will let it go! He is nothing more than a hate monger and no different than the people that are in the KKK…only a black version.
I have to admit I am very upset about this whole thing. The man comes out of nowhere and people are just falling all over him. He really was a nobody till that goofy Oprah came out for him and now you don’t see her. I never fell for her either. Why did she leave that church and why is she not speaking up about it. After all he is her pick. I do believe that after 20 years of sitting in church and listening to his preacher he is a racist. His wife surely apears to be by her comments. I just can’t seem to trust the man at all. I watched Carl Rove the other day and he ran down the list of lies Obama “mispoke” and nobody seems to remember any of that like the whole Bosnia over reaction. Everyone is afraid to touch him for fear of being called a racist. You listen to the comedians at night and they all make fun of McCain and Clinton and Romney. I never heard one joke about Obama.
I also heard Dick Morris say on one of the shows that we have no choice now but to give him the nomination because there will be a revolution among his supporters which as everyone knows is mostly Black.I really hope he does not win for fear of what might happenbecause of his racist beliefs. I WILL NOT vote for him!!!!