Posted on 01/30/2007 5:41:01 AM PST by areafiftyone
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a strong lead over other Democratic presidential contenders in a new poll of voters in Ohio, the closely divided swing state that tipped the 2004 election for President Bush.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani, who appeared in TV ads and at fundraisers during last year's gubernatorial race, is the favorite among the state's Republican voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. He is favored by 30 percent of voters surveyed compared to 22 percent for Sen. John McCain, 11 percent for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 4 percent for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Among Ohio Democrats, 38 percent pick Clinton, 13 percent pick Sen. Barack Obama, 11 percent pick former vice presidential candidate John Edwards, and 6 percent would vote for former Vice President Al Gore. Ohio's own Rep. Dennis Kucinich gets just 2 percent of the vote, or less than the survey's margin of error.
"Those who say Sen. Hillary Clinton can't win the White House because she can't win a key swing state like Ohio might rethink their assumption," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
The institute polled 1,305 registered Ohio voters by phone from last Tuesday to Sunday. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. When results are broken down by party, the margin of error rises to plus or minus 4 percentage points for Democrats, and plus or minus 5 percentage points for Republicans.
Though she holds a strong early lead within her own party, Clinton also faces the strongest bloc of voters among the early contenders - 38 percent - who dislike her, perhaps explaining why she did not beat the poll's margin of error in any of the head-to-head match-ups tested.
The survey found hypothetical contests between Clinton and Guiliani, Clinton and McCain, Obama and McCain, and Edwards and McCain all within the margin of error.
"Given their stronger overall image, Mayor Guiliani and Sen. McCain would seem to have the potential to improve their standing," Brown said. "That might be much more difficult for Sen. Clinton because of the larger number of voters who don't like her."
The poll also found that 60 percent of Ohio voters oppose Bush's plan to send 22,000 additional troops into Iraq. Fifty-six percent say going to war in Iraq was wrong, and 65 percent dislike Bush's handling of the situation.
What does that say about them?
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selfish is one word that comes to mind
Conservatives are not doomed.
We have temporarily worn out our welcome among the voters as the last election shows but this is not uncommon in American political history. Because of this there is ZERO chance of a hard line conservative being elected president. However, it would be possible and a good thing to get one in as VP (this should be what Hunter is really shooting for) and have a holding action with some one like Rudy who will do many of the things (including the most important) conservatives think necessary though not all.
Two steps forward, one step back has to be the long term political strategy for conservatives. We will not be able to have victory after victory with such a fickle and frivolous electorate. At best 1/3 of the voters are conservative and the rest must be attracted to a ticket.
They are useful for surfacing the Haters too.
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Its Irony that you are using that as an excuse to bash Rudy when you just admitted he's close to Rudy. I thought yuo hated Rudy so you hate Pataki then.
Good post!
We will watch Guiliani's strength become greater along with your frustration at not being able to beat something with nothing. He is polling very well all across the nation and has not even gotten started.
He was still the pubbie candidate in 1994. Your side raised the 11th commandment, NOT ME.
You're prediction may come back to bite you.
Rudy McRomney will split the Rino vote leaving a large spotlight for a real conservative to shine.
A conservative who is pro-life, pro-2nd amendment, and not afraid to defend our borders. A leader who HAS had a son with boots on the ground in Iraq.
I think Duncan Hunter will do quite well as more and more people learn about him.
http://www.gohunter08.com/Home.aspx
He's also the candidate that the dem's fear the most.
Pro-Iraq war. Rudy is. Edwards isn't. We are. So are several other GOP candidates.
So Rudy on key issues is closer to Edwards than we are. That's the fact, jack.
Oh, he could well win the nomination.
And then would get creamed in the general election. Kerry got killed in 2004 because of his baggage. Rudy has quite a bit of his own - personal issues and crony issues with Kerik. The Dems will use Kerik to absolutely savage Rudy's standing to carry out the WOT.
And that doesn't even get into the issue of a guy on the far left of the party trying to hold it together when HE endorsed a Dem in 1994. Party loyalty works best when you have practised such yourelf.
Hunter's remark was nonsense. The problem is not convincing anyone that he is conservative but convincing the electorate that he is not an extremist. This was the reason Bush won because he diffused the idea that conservatives were mean-spirited and cruel, compassionate conservativism. After his election the media managed to destroy that idea and the Implacables joined it in their hatred of the President.
Try to work this through.
On the war, we support it. So does Rudy. So that's a tie to see who is closer to Edwards.
On the other three issues I mentioned, Rudy is closer to Edwards than we are.
Hey, I didn't start this absurd comparison of conservative critics of Rudy to Edwards. I just showed how absurd it was.
The specific topic was needed $100 million for the primary, not the general election.
Not for someone who has a realistic evaluation of the American electorate. It is simple really.
Eight years ago I'd be inclined to agree with you.
However, marketing is quite fragmented and a lot of motivated people are on the internet now.
So large-scale TV campaigns are not as effective as they used to be, which at the primary level gives smaller candidates a chance if they can harness alternative marketing methods.
He's also the candidate that the dem's fear the most. [This is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. I guess you believe Dennis Kukinch is the GOP's worse fear too.]
"Kerry got killed in 2004 because of his baggage." It wasn't mere "baggage" which killed Kerry but the fact that there was a band of men who were not going to allow his TREASON and gratuitous amplification of his "heroism" to go unchallenged. Kerry would have been elected but for the Swift Boaters.
Guiliani has NO such baggage. What are a bunch of Welfare Queens going to complain that he threw them off welfare?
Kerik is just an adulterer and NO ONE will care about him or that issue since the RATs worship one.
Intra-party squabbles in 1994 mean nothing particularly when the guy he was against will CAMPAIGN for him.
If such concerns are the best you can come up with get ready to see Rudy not only nominated but a big winner.
Only in your dreams.
Between his personal problems and Bernie Kerik, the Dems will have a field day with him.
It was still nonsense. Consultants do not do what he claimed in the VAST majority of the cases. It was an example of complaining about chocolate ice cream tasting bad because you have none. But I think it is also totally irrelevant to anything important and if he got a couple of laughs out of it good for him.
I believe it is very important to have as conservative running mate as possible so believe Hunter could well be that if he plays his cards right.
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