FOX News Poll: Obama Has Slim Edge Over McCain, Half Would Never Vote for Clinton

[zrinkill]

If American voters were casting their ballot today, Democrat Barack Obama would have a slight advantage over Republican John McCain in the race for the White House, while McCain would narrowly edge out Hillary Clinton, according to the latest FOX News poll.

It’s clear Obama has the momentum — racking up wins in every state since Super Tuesday. The new poll shows he also has the largest number of people saying they would "definitely" vote for him, the most positive favorable ratings of the 2008 contenders, and the highest number saying they would feel "enthusiastic" if he were to become president.


And it’s clear who is struggling. Clinton has not only lost her lead in the race for the party’s nomination — Obama has tied her at 44 percent — but she also has the largest number of people saying they would "never" vote for her, the lowest favorable ratings, and the most saying they would feel "scared" if she won the Oval Office.


The national telephone poll was conducted for FOX News by Opinion Dynamics Corp. among 900 registered voters from February 19 to February 20. The poll has a 3-point error margin.

In the hypothetical matchups, Obama bests McCain by 4 percentage points, inside the poll’s sampling error (47 percent to 43 percent). McCain has a 3-point edge over Clinton (47 percent to 44 percent), also inside the error margin and so not statistically significant.


Nearly half of voters (47 percent) say they would "never" vote for Clinton, while 37 percent say they "definitely" would. For McCain, 41 percent would "definitely" vote for him and 34 percent "never" would. Obama performs best on this measure as 44 percent would "definitely" vote for him and 34 percent "never" would.


In addition, more voters say they would feel "enthusiastic" if Obama wins the presidency (22 percent) than would feel that way if Clinton (18 percent) or McCain wins (9 percent).


And more would be "scared" if Clinton were to become the next president (24 percent) than if Obama (17 percent) or McCain does (14 percent).


Race for the Democratic Nomination
For the first time in the FOX News poll, Obama ties Clinton among Democrats as the choice for the party’s nominee – 44 percent each.


Clinton’s advantage started to narrow last month, although she still had a 10-point lead then, down from a 29-point edge in December.


"These new data confirm the Democratic nomination is up for grabs at the national level. The upcoming contests in the delegate-rich states of Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania may be Senator Clinton's last chance to re-gain her lost momentum," says Ernest Paicopolos, principal of Opinion Dynamics.


More than one of five Obama supporters (22 percent) says their vote is a vote "against Clinton," and slightly fewer Clinton backers (18 percent) describe their vote as one "against Obama." Majorities of both Clinton’s (76 percent) and Obama’s (71 percent) supporters say their vote is better described as for their candidate than against the opponent.


If Clinton wins the nomination, 63 percent of Democrats think she should pick Obama as her running mate. If Obama wins, fewer Democrats think he should choose Clinton — though still a 54 percent majority.


Who is Usama Rooting For?
Who does Usama bin Laden want to be the next president? More people think the terrorist leader wants Obama to win (30 percent) than think he wants Clinton (22 percent) or McCain (10 percent). Another 18 percent says it doesn’t matter to bin Laden and 20 percent are unsure




http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331691,00.html



...........

[iceberg]

and somewhere out there JT wails in the night...

[arglebargle]

Does that little tagend Bin Laden thing seem a little ...pointed....to anyone else?

[zrinkill]

Originally Posted by arglebargle

Does that little tagend Bin Laden thing seem a little ...pointed....to anyone else?

Yes ..... but of course Bin Laden would want whoever would pull us out of the middle east quicker to win ....

I do not know why that would surprise Obama or Hillary supporters.

[burmafrd]

argle- given the Dems public determination to get us out of things real fast and VERY PUBLIC skepticism about any war on terror- why would Osama NOT want them in office?

[Doomsday101]

Originally Posted by burmafrd

argle- given the Dems public determination to get us out of things real fast and VERY PUBLIC skepticism about any war on terror- why would Osama NOT want them in office?

I agree. Osama would claim his victory over the US and his followers would increase as he can point out how he stood up to the mighty US and we turned tail and ran.

[BrAinPaiNt]

Some of you.

Show me where Obama and Hillary have talked about pulling out of Afghanistan?

Heck we even have Obama getting called out for talking about going into Pakistan if our guy there does not toe the line.

I hope people do know that they talk about Iraq and not afghanistan, however so many are still confused that Osama and Iraq where in cahoots.

[Doomsday101]

Osama has talked about the struggles taking place in Iraq and has said the battle is being fought in Iraq by Al Qaeda. I'm not talking about 9/11 I'm talking about the here and now and yes a pull out by the US will be hailed by Osama as a great victory.

[Doomsday101]

Osama bin Laden, in his second recorded message in 48 hours, warned Iraqi insurgents yesterday not to participate in negotiations with the elected government in Baghdad and urged Muslims in Somalia to violently oppose any challenge to Islamists who have seized power in that country.

"There will be no bargaining with the crusaders and the apostates" in Iraq, bin Laden said in a clear reference to efforts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to draw insurgent groups into negotiations and amnesty agreements with his government. "There will be no half-solutions." Maliki and his appointed predecessors since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq would be punished as soon as American military forces are defeated, he said.

[Sasquatch]

Originally Posted by BrAinPaiNt

I hope people do know that they talk about Iraq and not afghanistan, however so many are still confused that Osama and Iraq where in cahoots.

If you repeat it a million times it begins to take on a reality of its own.

[BrAinPaiNt]

Originally Posted by Sasquatch

If you repeat it a million times it begins to take on a reality of its own.

This is that who catapult the propaganda thing W was talking about.

[zrinkill]

Originally Posted by Doomsday101

Osama bin Laden, in his second recorded message in 48 hours, warned Iraqi insurgents yesterday not to participate in negotiations with the elected government in Baghdad and urged Muslims in Somalia to violently oppose any challenge to Islamists who have seized power in that country.

"There will be no bargaining with the crusaders and the apostates" in Iraq, bin Laden said in a clear reference to efforts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to draw insurgent groups into negotiations and amnesty agreements with his government. "There will be no half-solutions." Maliki and his appointed predecessors since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq would be punished as soon as American military forces are defeated, he said.

So is he talking about Iraq here?

[Aikbach]

So according to this poll Obama would win a slim popular vote and probably lose the electoral college and the presidency in this scenario seeming that more states would still side with McCain.

1824, 1876,2000, 2008? Electoral college victories but popular vote losses for John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, George W. Bush and John McCain?

Still better than winning pluralities as Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton did.

[Doomsday101]

Originally Posted by zrinkill

So is he talking about Iraq here?

There is no doubt. Thing that gets me is if you listen to these thugs they are very clear in their ambitions and goals and yet Americans walk around with their head in the cloud like this is some TV show that will just end in 30 min and if not let’s just move on to something else.

[burmafrd]

Their (the Libs) hatred of Bush and of the US is so extreme that they will not accept the REALITY that these people want to DESTROY western society.