From HuffPollster:
Clinton leads among Democrats – Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the overwhelming favorite in the Democratic side, with just over 60 percent support when Democrats are prompted for their choice on the McClatchy/Marist and Fox News polls, and just under 50 percent on Monmouth’s open-ended question. Although Clinton’s dominance made it easier for Democrats to name a choice without prompting, nearly 40 percent were still unable to volunteer a preference.
Please share widely!
n/t
Especially, when it is after all the NEXT immediate federal election.
I wonder what 2008 polling was in Dec. 2006.
I guess I interpreted the first comment as saying it’s too soon to talk about this race. Campaigns are going to start appearing in NH and IA within the next couple of months I suspect.
From TNR:
Joe Lieberman was the overwhelming favorite in polls like this for the 2004 primaries. Not that anyone was ever going to vote for him. But when you ask people before most of the candidates have even decided to run, let alone started campaigning, people are just going to name the name they’ve heard of.
I would argue that Liz Warren, like Obama in a similar period, had the same level of name recognition and exposure-it’s just that more primary voters want Clinton than Warren at this stage, and considerably more than the next tier down. 2004 we had no frontrunner, it was a truly open primary with a lot of diverse and divergent viewpoints and experiences among the candidates.
It was not unlike the 2012 Republican primary in that there was a different frontrunner every month or so. Dean crested too early in August and got overexposed, and then Gephardt knee capped them both with a negative ad war leading to Kerry. But Edwards and Clark were strongly in the mix, and Joementum looked good in NH for a small period of time.
The TLDR version: In 2004 there was no Hillary style frontrunner who had nearly won the nomination 8 years prior and was directly associated with a very popular ex-President. Very disingenous to compare her level of support to Lieberman’s or claim it’s only name recognition-and I say this as someone decidedly undecided about her.
“40 percent were still unable to volunteer a preference”
A fun question might’ve been “Who do you think would make a great President?”
Result of polling on that (in my kitchen):
Al Franken – 2
Niki Tsongas – 1
Tammy Duckworth – 1
Rachel Maddow – 1
…they asked the question you suggested (actually a variation thereof).
Seven per cent responded “none of the above”, and thirty-two percent responded “unsure/other”.
An Unsure/Other ticket would be interesting. But would Other survive the vetting process that Unsure would put everyone through?
… until they chose Other as the VP. Tragic mistake. An “own goal”. Reminds me of McCain choosing Palin. Now I have to find a different candidate.