Clinton, Obama draw blacks, liberals from Edwards [View All]

[Ethelk2044]

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2007/08/clinton_obama_draw_blacks_libe.html


John Edwards campaigned for president last time around with a speech about the "two Americas,'' the one for the rich, and the one for the poor -- and how he hoped to bridge them.

But this time around, Edwards' retooled but indefatigably populist appeal has left him without much apparent support among segments of the voting populace who might alight to it. Or could it be that Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois simply have cornered the market?

"The exceptionally strong support for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama among black voters (and, for Clinton, among liberal Democratic and lower-income white voters as well), may help explain the relatively limited appeal of presidential hopeful John Edwards, whose populist platform has not translated so far into support from these key segments of the Democratic electorate,'' writes Michael Dimock, of the Pew Research Center.

Pew has the numbers to back up the argument:


Among all black, Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters surveyed in its July poll, Clinton is favored by 47 percent, Obama 34 percent, and Edwards 1 percent. And among black voters, Clinton is viewed "very favorably'' by 52 percent, Obama 50 percent and Edwards 18.

Among lower-income white Democratic voters, Clinton is regarded "very favorably'' by 35 percent, Obama 22 percent and Edwards 17 percent.

Among liberal Democratic voters, Clinton is viewed "very favorably'' by 39 percent, Obama 35 percent and Edward 24 percent