US Republicans, in search of the weaker Democrat

[powergirl]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Buoyed by recent polls favoring John McCain to win the White House, Republicans are sharpening their knives while wondering which Democrat would be easier to beat in November.

For months, Republican strategists have delighted over the prospect of facing off with Hillary Clinton, believing that she would be easier to beat than her Democratic rival, Barack Obama.

But things have changed since the Obama campaign was engulfed in controversy over embarrassing statements by his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, whose fiery sermons have been called anti-American.

The former first lady and New York senator is one of the most popular women in the United States but she inspires intense hostility in some quarters.

A poll published in mid-March by the Wall Street Journal said that while 45 percent of Americans hold a positive opinion of Clinton, almost as many -- 43 percent -- dislike her.

In the same poll, 51 percent respondents liked Obama and only 28 percent had a negative view of him.

Then came the Wright affair. The former pastor at a Chicago church Obama attends, Wright is seen as the senator's spiritual mentor. He officiated at Obama's wedding and baptized his two daughters.

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Obama was left to explain the "inexcusable" statements of his former pastor, while polls showed his support sinking.

"The Reverend Wright matter has highlighted the enormous cultural distance between a large share of black Americans, and most white Americans," said James Gimpel, a professor of political science at the University of Maryland.

"I'm not sure that many white Americans were aware of this distance before, and it has greatly alarmed them," he said.

"Even if the Jeremiah Wright controversy went away tomorrow, it underscores one of Obama's biggest vulnerabilities," said Dan Schnur, a Republican strategist who worked for McCain during his 2000 presidential campaign.

In a recent opinion published in the New York Times, Schnur warned Republicans not to underestimate Clinton as an adversary in November. Obama would be easier for Republicans to beat, he said.


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(by powergirl: Pay attention to this part about Clinton uniting the Republican party)

But Republicans are wrong if they think Obama would be easier to beat, said Eric Davis, a professor of political science at Middlebury College in Vermont.

"Unless Obama's numbers in the polls drop precipitously in the next couple of months, Clinton would have a harder time defeating McCain than Obama," Davis said.

"Clinton will unite the Republican party more than anything John McCain can do," he said, due to Republican animosity toward the former first lady.

On the other hand she would have a hard time uniting Democrats because, if she is nominated, "it will only be because the superdelegates went against the preference of the voters as expressed in the primaries and caucuses," he said.

"I continue to believe that Obama would be the stronger Democratic candidate," Davis said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080325/pl_afp/usvoterepublicans;_ylt=AqP2DEK6ojB8j4mCjTNtwy6yFz4D

[leftofcool]

1. Obama is toast in the GE

The repukes are going to bleed the new messiah dry. But that's okay, because you O supporters would rather lose with Obama than win with Hillary, right?

[Mooney]

2. Hillary's not going to win.

Have you noticed at any time in the last 16 years that she's a mite unpopular?

[leftofcool]

3. Hello Rush

spoken like pure RW talk

[Mooney]

4. I'm sorry you don't want to accept the well-documented fact

that Hillary Clinton is loathed by a large portion of the electorate. That's not a right wing view. Anyone who's been paying attention even peripherally for the last 16 years should have noticed this.

I have yet to meet a single Republican who doesn't start foaming at the mouth when you mention her name, and the same goes for independents and even a lot of Democrats. You can overlook that if you want, and you can dismiss it as Limbaugh-ian right wing spin, but that doesn't change the fact that it's true.

Hillary Clinton has been hated by half the voters in this country for the last 16 years. It's the type of visceral, irrational hatred that can't be neutralized. Ignore it if you want, and then when McCain carries 45 states you can wonder how a candidate as universally popular as Hillary Clinton could possibly have lost the election.

[QC]

5. I agree with you, but

I think it is also true that Obama is not an ideal candidate, either. Once the Republicans are through "defining" him the average voter will think that Wright is his running mate.

It seems to me that we eliminated the most viable candidates first and are now left with the two most easily trashed. This is what we get for letting the corporate media choose our candidates for us.

[Mooney]

6. I've never believed otherwise. Obama is a very flawed candidate with a lot of weaknesses.

But I think most of Obama's flaws can be overcome. The basic, underlying fact of "Hillary Hate," on the other hand (in the real world, not on this board) has existed for too long at this point to change it. She comes with an automatic hater base.

I also agree that we're basically stuck with the two least qualified candidates. The grown-ups got knocked out of this thing before they even had a chance to get off the ground.

[QC]

7. I agree! n/t

[Tesha]

8. They're *BOTH* likely toast. We threw out the winning candidates months ago.

Hillary is a sure loser. Obama is a likely loser. But
barring a miracle at the convention, those are the two
we're left with.

Tesha

[dpbrown]

9. And you continue to think that the confederate south isn't going to notice he's (part) black?

Senator Obama has won a lot of red states that aren't going to go for the Democratic candidate anyway. That seems like a pretty tenuous way to generate a lead.