New Quinnipiac Poll shows Clinton Besting Obama Against McCain in PA, OH and FL

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[obamahorror]

May 1 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton runs stronger than Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama in a match-up against Republican John McCain in the crucial swing states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, a Quinnipiac University poll shows.

Clinton's support in the three states is built on white working-class voters, who also were essential to her primary victories over Obama in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the poll found.

Clinton, a New York senator, would get 49 percent to McCain's 41 percent among all voters in Florida and she is ahead of McCain 48 percent to 38 percent in Ohio. In Pennsylvania, Clinton bests McCain 51 percent to 37 percent in a head-to-head match-up.

By contrast, Obama, an Illinois senator, is statistically even with McCain in Florida and Ohio, while leading him in Pennsylvania by 47 percent to 38 percent, according to data released by the university's polling institute.

Clinton and McCain are tied among white voters in Florida and she gets a plurality of their support in the other two states. Obama, the first black candidate with a serious chance of winning the presidency, trails McCain among whites in all three states.

``There's no indication that Obama's problems with white, working-class Democrats in the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries have gone away,'' Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac's polling institute in Hamden, Connecticut, said in a statement.

Bush Ties Hurt McCain

McCain, an Arizona senator, is hurt in the three states because he is linked to President George W. Bush, Brown said. McCain's age -- he would be 72 on Inauguration Day -- also is a concern for voters, according to the poll.

The economy was mentioned most often by voters as the top issue in the election, followed by the war in Iraq.

Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania account for 68 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency. No one has won the presidency since 1960 without winning at least two of the three states.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted April 23-29 and the margin of error was plus or minus 2.6 percentage points in Florida, 2.9 points in Ohio and 2.5 percentage points in Pennsylvania.

[Theodore R.]

This should be a warning to McPain, but I dont’ think he is listening.

[MBB1984]

Operation Chaos my create ultimate chaos for McCain if Clinton wins the nomination. And, I think it is very possible she wins the nomination.

[gunservative]

I don’t see the words “Ralph Nader” in this article or poll.

[jmaroneps37]

Here's the number that counts and can not be explained or push polled away. The beast has anywhere between 45 and 52% of voters who say they would NEVER vote for her. When that number falls to a manageable 35 or 40% then she has a chance. Until then, forget it.

[chimera]

McCain kind of screwed the pooch in OH by coming here and talking up NAFTA and globalism. That’s suicide in a state like this. You don’t tell people out of work that it is a good thing that they’ve lost their jobs. He’s going to have to find a different message if he wants to win here, which I think is crucial to any chance of an electoral victory.

[counterpunch]

Senator McCain has gotten the message, which is why he has worked to distance himself from President Bush.

I don’t know why you would call the good Senator names though, after all, Theodore R. is his favorite President.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

You may think it is possible for her to win the nomination, but the Democrats have a history of nominating someone who can’t win. Therefore, you have to assume they will nominate Obama.