Well, well, well, looks that all that “unity” talk was a total sham.
A growing number of Clinton supporters polled say they may stay home in November instead of casting their ballot for Obama, an indication the party has yet to coalesce around the Illinois senator four weeks after the most prolonged and at times divisive primary race in modern American history came to a close.
According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Friday, the number of Clinton supporters who plan to defect to Republican Sen. John McCain’s camp is down from one month ago, but — in what could be an ominous sign for Obama as he seeks to unify the party — the number of them who say they plan to vote for Obama is also down, and a growing number say they may not vote at all.
In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey completed in early June before the New York senator ended her White House bid, 60 percent of Clinton backers polled said they planned on voting for Obama. In the latest poll, that number has dropped to 54 percent.
In early June, 22 percent of Clinton supporters polled said they would not vote at all if Obama were the party’s nominee, now close to a third say they will stay home.
In another sign the wounds of the heated primary race have yet to heal, 43 percent of registered Democrats polled still say they would prefer Clinton to be the party’s presidential nominee.
That number is significantly higher than it was in early June, when 35 percent of Democrats polled said they preferred Clinton to lead the party’s presidential ticket. [emphasis mine]
Not only are people pining for Hillary and planning on staying home in November rather than cast a vote for Obama, but fewer registered Democrats say they will support Obama:
Obama won 59 percent of support from registered Democrats polled in June; now he garners 54 percent.
These numbers paint a very grim picture for Senator Obama, yet the pundits still fail to get it right. Their analysis is not just wrong, but it doesn’t gel with the numbers:
The analysts said maybe more than four weeks is needed for many of Clinton’s most devoted supporters to move past her loss, especially considering the primary campaign stretched more than 17 months.
“Many voters find it tough to immediately switch allegiances to a candidate that they once opposed, so they find a ‘neutral’ setting more comfortable for awhile,” said Keating Holland, CNN polling director. “If that’s what is happening to the Clinton supporters who now say they plan to stay at home, Obama may have nothing to worry about. If not, there’s a big chunk of the party base that Obama won’t be able to count on in November.”
Sorry, Holland, but that’s not what the numbers indicate. Many Hillary supporters who said they would vote for Obama even before he was the presumptive nominee are now saying they won’t. Further, the number of people who would prefer Hillary to be the nominee are increasing! These aren’t the people who would have found it hard to switch allegiances. These are the people who were willing to support Obama, but now, no doubt because of all his lies and reversals, now see no proper option in November unless Hillary is atop the ticket. The fact remains, Obama and the DNC have a lot to worry about: PUMA!
