Poll: Obama struggling to win over Clinton voters

Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:21 AM EDT

politics, barack-obama, poll, hillary, democratic-party, hillary-rodham-clinton, voters, ap-yahoo

Barack Obama's support from backers of Hillary Rodham Clinton is stuck smack where it was in June, a poll showed Tuesday, a stunning lack of progress that is weakening him with fellow Democrats in the close presidential race.

An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll shows that among adults who backed his rival during their bitter primary campaign, 58 percent now support Obama. That is the same percentage who said so in June, when Clinton ended her bid and urged her backers to line up behind the Democratic senator from Illinois.

The poll shows that while Obama has gained ground among Clinton's supporters — 69 percent view him favorably now, up 9 percentage points from June — this has yet to translate into more of their support.

In part, this is because their positive views of Republican presidential nominee John McCain have also improved during this period. The share of Clinton supporters saying they'll vote for McCain edged up from 21 percent to 28 percent, with the number of undecided staying constant, according to the survey, conducted by Knowledge Networks.

Clinton backers' reluctance to support Obama helps explain why he is having a tougher time solidifying partisan supporters than McCain. Overall, 74 percent of Democrats say they will vote for Obama, compared with 87 percent of Republicans behind the Arizona senator. About nine in 10 Clinton supporters are Democrats.

The problem that supporters of Clinton, the New York senator, have with Obama seems to flow from their measure of him as a candidate, not from issues. From establishing a timeline for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq to abortion to canceling tax cuts on the rich, their views of the importance of issues are virtually identical to Democrats in general.

Yet they find Obama less likable, honest, experienced and inspiring than Democrats overall do, and have a better view of McCain. And while majorities of Clinton supporters say Obama shares their values and understands ordinary Americans, they're less likely to say so than Democrats overall.

"It's just a gut feeling, my gut tells me he's not it," Leslye Burgess, 53, a federal Treasury Department manager and Clinton supporter from Fairfax, Va., said of Obama.

The GOP's selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate has had no net impact on Clinton loyalists — a group Republicans were hoping to lure by picking the Alaska governor. Twenty-one percent in the poll said Palin on the ticket makes them likelier to back McCain, 21 percent said it makes them less likely, and 58 percent said it had no impact.

The choice of Joe Biden as Democratic vice presidential candidate makes them a bit likelier to vote for Obama, but seven in 10 said it didn't matter.

Whites saying Clinton should have been the nominee were twice as likely as whites preferring Obama to choose at least one negative adjective to describe blacks, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll conducted three weeks ago aimed at testing racial attitudes. Given a list of possible descriptions of blacks, four in 10 Clinton backers chose at least one derogatory one, compared to one in five of Obama's.

Other September polls have shown Obama making progress in recent weeks with one-time Clinton backers and doing better with them than in the AP-Yahoo News survey. One by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center had Obama with 78 percent of their support and McCain with 18 percent; another by ABC News and The Washington Post showed Obama ahead 72 percent to 23 percent.

Those figures measured Clinton supporters who are registered voters — who in the AP-Yahoo News poll leaned toward Obama over McCain 61 percent to 26 percent. The discrepancies in the polls might come from how they were conducted.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said McCain and Clinton have both accused Obama of lacking sufficient experience and accomplishments, so Clinton backers "understand it's a completely credible and legitimate criticism."

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Clinton supporters are turning to Obama "in huge numbers" and noted that the AP-Yahoo News data differed from other polls. He said strong feelings by Clinton supporters were understandable considering the length and intensity of the Democratic primaries and said of Clinton, "She's done everything we've asked her to do."

Asked about the AP-Yahoo News poll Tuesday on MSNBC, Clinton said she was working to persuade more of her supporters to back Obama, saying, "I'm working hard to close that gap."

The AP-Yahoo News poll has surveyed the same nationally representative group of about 2,000 adults seven times since November, in an effort to understand how individuals are reacting to the presidential race. Nine in 10 Clinton supporters who said in June they were backing Obama were still with him in September, while three-quarters of those with McCain stayed with him.

As during her primary battle against Obama, Clinton supporters are likelier to be female, white and less educated than those who did not back her.

The starkest contrast comes from comparing Clinton backers still refusing to support Obama with other Democrats.

Just three in 10 Clinton supporters still not backing Obama view him favorably, compared with eight in 10 of all Democrats. While most Democrats and former Clinton supporters strongly prefer Obama over McCain to handle key issues, those Clinton voters still opposing Obama opt for McCain: On the economy by 32 points, and on Iraq by 47 points.

The AP-Yahoo News poll of 1,740 adults was conducted Sept. 5-15 and has an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. It included interviews with 502 people who in AP-Yahoo News polls in January and April identified themselves as supporting Clinton in one or both of those months, for whom the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4.4 points.

The survey was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews.

In contrast, the Pew and ABC-Post polls relied on people saying in September whether they supported Clinton earlier this year. Those polls were conducted by telephone; some studies have shown people can be less reluctant to disclose embarrassing behavior — like not supporting their party's presidential nominee — in an online survey than to a live telephone interviewer.

On the other hand, people in the AP-Yahoo News poll who backed Clinton in earlier waves of the survey might not want to appear inconsistent by suddenly backing a candidate — Obama — they opposed earlier.

___

AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

Polling site: http://news.yahoo.com/polls

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Public Discussion (15)

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3.4

2.0

{"commentId":3053994,"authorDomain":"logdump"}

logdump

Crossover voters who had no intention of voting for Clinton in the first place or any Democrat. Yawn

{"commentId":3053994,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"logdump"}

1 vote

#1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:14 AM EDT

{"commentId":3056386,"authorDomain":"tishamauro"}

not over it

That is an easy way to dismiss a large group of people. The Clinton supporters I know were going to vote for Clinton and are struggling to find a candidate they have trust in now. I am one of them and it is a very hard decision to make. Maybe after the debates it will be easier. As of right now I am having a hard time convincing myself to vote for Obama. I don't think he has enough experience for the job. I am not convinced he can work across the isle and I don't think he has earned enough respect while in the senate to bring this country together. I don't know if anyone has noticed but for the last two elections this country is almost equally divided. Congress has been in stalemate. We aren't getting anything done at all. We need someone to bring both sides together and get things done. I don't have a lot of faith that Obama can do that.

{"commentId":3056386,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"tishamauro"}

1 vote

#1.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:14 AM EDT

{"commentId":3056756,"authorDomain":"ctackett22"}

OKC, Dem

This is the alternative because as the experts have said there is about a 40% chance Palin will end up the president when McCain is unable to complete the term.

Here again we have Sarah Palin saying: (quoting my friend ABD3)

I don't know any heads of state, but I did stay at a Holiday in Express last night.

This is what is really going on with Sarah Palin,

The Accidental Vice Presidency

{"commentId":3056756,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"ctackett22"}

2 votes

#1.2 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:36 AM EDT

{"commentId":3057312,"authorDomain":"janicegrounds"}

janice-376027

notoverit.....you need to really examine yourself if you are 'not sure' about Obama and see what comes up. I suspect it won't be a great answer for yourself but if you are honest, it will come.

You see, I supported/support Hillary Clinton and would have loved having her as our President. However, she did not win the nomination, Obama did. Now looking at their positions and their 'pet' projects, they are so similar it was hard for them to debate.

You can NOT tell me that you are a Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton and now are voting for McCain/Palin ticket because of some nebulous 'gut feeling' or some other crap like that. You vote for McCain is simply and categorically a vote AGAINST a half black/half white man. Period, end of story.

There is NO WAY you can agree in any small measure with the basic tenets of the hijacked Repbulican party but yet were going to vote Democrat.

This is the most important election I have had in my lifetime - having voted for the first time when I was 18 when they changed the voting age. We are in a CRISIS here and need a true change of leadership. John McCain is in the early stages of dementia and nominated a completely ridiculous running mate to pander to Dobson, Limbaugh, the 'evangelical base', etc that WILL make George W Bush look like the greatest president in this century WHEN she has to take the oath of office.

This makes me sick to my stomach and for the rest of the posters, I personally don't know a single person voting for McCain who was voting for Hillary - either that or they are keeping it to themselves

{"commentId":3057312,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"janicegrounds"}

1 vote

#2 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:03 PM EDT

{"commentId":3058414,"authorDomain":"tishamauro"}

not over it

I CAN tell you that I am a lifelong democrat that supported Hillary and am NOT SURE about Obama. If you don't want to hear it that is fine with me. Don't read my posts. I am just being honest about my vote. I don't think that Obama has enough experience to lead us out of this mess. I did not say I was voting for McCain yet. I am waiting for the debates.

I want to vote for Obama but this election is so important I am being very careful. Prior to this election cycle, I liked McCain's leadership and his willingness to go against Bush and other prominent republicans in order to do the right thing for the country. I will admit that he has voted for Bush 90% of the time recently. But other than the surge the votes have been largely in-consiquential. I agreed with the surge. I wish we weren't in this war in the first place but since we are I was in favor of going in there full force and getting something done so we can leave. That worked out pretty well in my opinion. I am disturbed about Palin and that may very well be the reason I don't vote for McCain.

But like I said I haven't made my mind up yet.

Sorry you are upset to your stomach, you might try Pepto Bismol.

{"commentId":3058414,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"tishamauro"}

#2.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:56 PM EDT

{"commentId":3066058,"authorDomain":"ctackett22"}

OKC, Dem

I am so proud of Obama.

Rather than making a knee jerk reaction and throwing non regulated money at the problem, he took the time to come up with a comprehensive plan to lift the economy up and get it back on track.

He resisted the prodding and smear attacks from McCain insinuating that Obama had nothing to offer on the economy and he isn't ready to lead. While McCain proved yet again he is "best pinkie friends" with Bush and this administrations policies.

This speaks volumes about Obama's desire to work for the best interest of the country.

{"commentId":3066058,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"ctackett22"}

1 vote

#2.2 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:05 PM EDT

{"commentId":3057951,"authorDomain":"Bor"}

BOR(derline)

If you were pro Hillary, you were against Obama!
So what would it make you been now pro Obama?

{"commentId":3057951,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"Bor"}

1 vote

#3 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:34 PM EDT

{"commentId":3058464,"authorDomain":"janicegrounds"}

janice-376027

Not necessary to be AGAINST Obama - many of us 'old time' feminsists (NOT MAN HATERS) believe that Hillary will be a wonderful president. I was torn because I also really like Obama and his record. I am now volunteering for Obama for the first time in many many years because I believe that deeply buried and not even acknowledged racial divide may keep folks from voting with their minds.

This makes me a Democrat and again, their positions were/are so close they could hardly debate. Just like I am not now 'anti-Hillary.

I am not agains Republicans either - many of my friends are/were Regan Republicans but they all admit that that particualar party is LONG GONE.

I would love to have Kucinich for president but have NEVER voted for him because he would not represent even a small minority of Americans.

{"commentId":3058464,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"janicegrounds"}

#3.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:58 PM EDT

{"commentId":3058900,"authorDomain":"blueboy"}

Blue Boy

Dennis was my first pick as well. He really was a inspirational figure wasn't he!

Obama is a great man, very intelligent and successful. I keep watching people call him a elitist and makes me angry. Here is a man that started with nothing and built his way up to success. I think to myself about his accomplishments and I honestly can say, I'd rather have someone like him in office than someone than talks about the their hard ships all the time and not their success. My first thought about that is "What a drama queen" and thats my view of McCain.

I wasn't 100% against McCain until he picked Ms. Palin and now I have became Anti-McCain. Ms. Palin, with all due respect; is a political evangelist monster and her beliefs that God guides her decisions scares the hell out of me.

Hillary and Obama had very similiar views, some people even labeled them both as the most social/liberal Democrats. To me honestly, I would think Hillary and Obama supports would make natural allies. But, it seems to be the opposite and peoples feelings are hurt and thats pretty much whats happening right now. People wanted someone else to get the nomination so they are completely turning their heads.

{"commentId":3058900,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"blueboy"}

1 vote

#3.2 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:19 PM EDT

{"commentId":3058274,"authorDomain":"janicegrounds"}

janice-376027

Here is Obama's partial resume....
---------------------------------------
BARACK OBAMA'S EXPERIENCE:
*First black President of Harvard Law Review
*12 years as Constitutional Law professor
*8 years as State Senator for district of over 750,000 people
*4 years in Senate representing a state of 13 million
*Chairman of Senate's Health and Human Services committee
*Sponsored 136 bills, *Served on Foreign Affairs, Environment & Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees

Obama has sponsored 136 bills since Jan 4, 2005, 2 have become law. This figure does not include bills to which Obama contributed very substantially as cosponsor, such as the Coburn-Obama Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 or the Lugar-NunnCooperative Proliferation Detection, Interdiction Assistance, and Conventional Threat Reduction Act of 2006. 00629

Amendments, that have all passed:

S.Amdt.159 to S.Con.Res.18 - To prevent and, if necessary, respond to an international outbreak of the avian flu.

S.Amdt.390 to H.R.1268 - To provide meal and telephone benefits for members of the Armed Forces who are recuperating from injuries incurred on active duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.

S.Amdt.670 to H.R.3 - To provide for Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) refueling capability at new and existing refueling station facilities to promote energy security and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

S.Amdt.808 to H.R.6 - To establish a program to develop Fischer-Tropsch transportation fuels from Illinois basin coal.

S.Amdt.851 to H.R.6 - To require the Secretary to establish a Joint Flexible Fuel/Hybrid Vehicle Commercialization Initiative, and for other purposes.

S.Amdt.1362 to S.1042 - To require a report on the Department of Defense Composite Health Care System II.

S.Amdt.1453 to S.1402 - To ensure the protection of military and civilian personnel in the Department of Defense from an influenza pandemic, including an avian influenza pandemic.

S.Amdt.2301 to H.R.3010 - To increase funds to the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity Program and to the Office of Special Education Programs of the Department of Education for the purposes of expanding positive behavioral interventions and supports.

S.Amdt.2605 to S.2020 - Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Federal Emergency Management Agency should immediately address issues relating to no-bid contracting.

S.Amdt.2930 to S.2349 - To clarify that availability of legislation does not include nonbusiness days.
S.Amdt.3144 to S.Con.Res.83 - To provide a $40 million increase in FY 2007 for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program and to improve job services for hard-to-place veterans

S. Amdt 41 to S. 1 To require lobbyists to disclose the candidates, leadership PACs, or political parties for whom they collect or arrange contributions, and the aggregate amount of the contributions collected or arranged.

Barack has Written a total of 890 Bills and Co-sponsored Another 1096 since he started serving in the U.S. Senate

{"commentId":3058274,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"janicegrounds"}

#4 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:49 PM EDT

{"commentId":3059255,"authorDomain":"tishamauro"}

not over it

I already know what you have posted and that is one of the reasons I didn't vote for him in the primaries. It really isn't a very long list of achievements and most of them are trivial at best. Who was opposing the bill to respond to the Avian flu? (please don't respond to that question, it doesn't matter) If we posted every achievement of Hillary and McCain it would be deleted immediately because it would take up entirely too much room and frankly I am too lazy to copy and paste that much information.

Leadership and character are qualities that aren't documented. I am also waiting to see how he handles this current bail-out crisis. It seems to me that he is too afraid to say anything just to make sure he is not wrong. I don't want the leader of the free world to be afraid.

The definition of a leader is "a guiding or directing head", not sit back and wait to see what everyone else does and then decide which way to go. Not saying anything right now is pretty similar to voting "present" in my opinion.

{"commentId":3059255,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"tishamauro"}

1 vote

#4.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:35 PM EDT

{"commentId":3060192,"authorDomain":"Bor"}

BOR(derline)

janice-376027
what is the second page of Obama's resume,
so far he is not impressing me.
It is not what he knows (education), it is how he uses it.

{"commentId":3060192,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"Bor"}

#5 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:22 PM EDT

{"commentId":3061594,"authorDomain":"janicegrounds"}

janice-376027

I am sure he isnt' impressing you...Your mind is made up so don't confuse you with the facts.

Just vote for whomever you want. Everything is going to be just fine with the 72 year old man who was in the bottom 20 of his class 50 years ago and the woman running mate who attended 5 colleges in 6 years to get a Journalism degree.

George W Bush was elected twice mind you by people who liked him....with a terrible resume - that probably had 2 pages on it but he is and was NOT BRIGHT, not well read, not thoughtful, not a great thinker and certainly not successful. Oh but he was a Christian right???? And you wanted to have a BBQ or beer with him right????

I for one am looking for actual INTELLECT - like the Rhodes Scholar that was Bill Clinton, calmness, someone who can actually listen and take advice from those around him and not be the decider, someone who believes... oh never mind for chr***ts sake.

{"commentId":3061594,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"janicegrounds"}

#6 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:30 PM EDT

{"commentId":3062008,"authorDomain":"Bor"}

BOR(derline)

janice-376027
it is not what you know (education).
But how you use it,
That counts.

{"commentId":3062008,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"Bor"}

1 vote

#6.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:49 PM EDT

{"commentId":3066160,"authorDomain":"Bor"}

BOR(derline)

still struggling

{"commentId":3066160,"threadId":"365134","contentId":"1899448","authorDomain":"Bor"}

#7 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:10 PM EDT

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"365134","isPrivate":false}

Backyard

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