Democratic voters prefer Change over Experience.

[illinoisprogressive]

That should be good news for Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois who has framed his presidential candidacy as his being an agent for change, a necessary argument for him since he's so short on Washington experience.

Conversely, it should be unwelcome news for Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York who has been in Washington for the last 15 years, which doesn't exactly allow her to sell herself as the force for change though it gives her the decided advantage with voters for whom experience is important.

Nonetheless, Clinton has a substantial lead over Obama in national polls and also leads him in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to recent state polls.

So while voters say change is more important to them than experience, most of them appear to be choosing the candidate with more Washington time served.

Still, Clinton's internal polls must be showing the same thing Gallup found, that she gets low marks from change-seeking voters, that it's a real vulnerability.

That would explain why over the weekend she was saying change was just a word if a candidate doesn't have the ability that comes from experience to accomplish it.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/09/democratic_voters_prefer_chang.html