Poll: Many voters unable to name Democratic candidates

[molly]

The poll, released for the Labor Day weekend which traditionally kicks off the campaign season, showed two-thirds of the people surveyed couldn't name one of the nine candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

When pollsters supplied the names, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean topped the field, although with relatively low numbers that suggest the race remains wide open.

snip...

When all potential voters were asked whether President Bush will definitely be re-elected, 38% said yes, but 50% said they think a Democrat can win. When voters were asked the same question about Bush's father in October 1991, 66% said yes, but that number dropped 20 points in the next month. The first President Bush lost to Bill Clinton.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/2003-09-01-democrats-poll_x.htm

[democrat in Tallahassee]

1. hell, I bet 50% can't even name the president.

n/t

[unfrigginreal]

2. This is the CBS Poll that was devastating to the Kerry campaign.

After months of double digit support for Kerry in the national polls he has slipped to 5%.

He's history.

[molly]

4. Hold on to your seat - you ain't seen nothing yet!

BTW - did you read the last paragraph of the post?

[unfrigginreal]

5. I did read the last paragraph!

And I think that it's great news for Democrats...but I don't see any positive news for Kerry in this poll...he's sucking Big Time!

[polpilot]

9. Kerry & Sharpton both at 5%. Kerry should be handing out pink slips!!

Dean '04...

[DrFunkenstein]

15. At 10% Dean Should Consider The Race A Lock

Sharpton '04...

[polpilot]

28. Graph the #'s for the last 12 months.

Dean '04...

[Kahuna]

10. These results are not about "support. " They are about

name recognition. among all registered voters, not just democrats. Just trying to keep the facts straight here.

[virtualobserver]

12. actually it is "support among registered Democrats"

-snip

When pollsters supplied the names, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean topped the field, although with relatively low numbers that suggest the race remains wide open.

Lieberman with 14%, Gephardt with 11%, and Dean with 10% were the only three in double digits in support among registered Democrats, said the poll.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry was at 5% after being in double digits in national polls most of the year. Kerry will try to spark his campaign this week with the formal announcement of his candidacy.

[polpilot]

13. If Kerry's having name recognition problems after 30 years of 'head in

trough' then HE REALLY DOES HAVE PROBLEMS. Clark is interesting for Dean's vp but I can't get excited about the #'s he'll bring.

Someone else is better. I personally would like to see a Carol Browner ticket but only if Dean's campaign continues to astound. If it does then the political implications of this election year are wildly exciting. I believe Browner's participation would be promoted in CA, west, and mid-west. It would also take care of Florida but Howard would be 'on his own' in the mid-south.

Dean's #'s are amazing at this point.

Dean '04

[DrFunkenstein]

16. You're Being A Knucklehead Again...

Why on Earth would people know about Kerry's Senate career? Most Americans can't find Iraq on the map, and think Saddam piloted the jet into the WTC. Alot of Americans can't even name their own representatives, let alone ones from other states.

"Dean's #'s are amazing at this point."

That's setting the bar a little low, don't ya think?

[virtualobserver]

18. If he had behaved like a national leader......

and went head to head against Bush over Iraq maybe he'd be as well known as an obscure Vermont Governor.

[blm]

21. The way Dean spoke in front of antiwar rallies?

Oops...my mistake...that was Kucinich. Dean just let the media PORTRAY him as a liberal antiwar candidate so he could collect the $$$$$$$.

[virtualobserver]

24. Dean did oppose the war.

But I am willing to give Kucinich more credit for doing that.

I like Kucinich.

[polpilot]

27. You're right. Kerry's political 'career' has been rather uneventful. He

will always struggle with name recognition and has a problem being remembered. In defense of Kerry blase' life I must say that some are 'captivated' by him.

Also you're right about Dean's #'s. They are not above what everyone expected. He's just on target. Sorry.

K-head

[dsc]

29. Oh really?

I would like just one article by a major pundit, or politico, dated before say June 1st which predicted this. Just one.

[Township75]

3. But they can probably name the starting line up of some sucky sports team*

*

[demnan]

6. Of course they can't name the candidates

The only place the candidates get any air time is on C-SPAN and only a small segment of the populace watches that.

Good news though, this morning I turned on the CBS morning bimbo show and there was Howard Dean's pus right on regular T.V. Some right wing pundant was explaining why he would never win. So they are worried, and Dean gets exposure.

[pansypoo53219]

7. exact same shit in 99 and 2000

NO one knew who the hell Bush was before the convention in 2000, cause people have LIVES and don't care to follow this crap as close as we do. because if they had paid attention, NO WAY would there be pResident codpiece.

[bread_and_roses]

8. political junkies

are a pretty small % of the general population, is my guess...I can't believe myself how much time I am wasting reading this board; I am not even a Dem! On another thread someone marveled that his neighbor doesn't even know who Rove is (as if that were surprising)...maybe this poll is a good reality check.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. This doesn't surprise me

I have Dean posters on the side windows of my car. My husband's immediate boss (at a car dealership in AR) asked who Dean was. My husband said he was running for President. The guy looked at him like, "what's a president?"

[dsc]

14. Funny when I made substantially

similar points about a poll posted a few months ago showing Dean in 6th place with 5% I was called deluded and in denial by people supporting your candidate. Funny how things change. Unlike them, I will be consistent, you have a valid point about early polls especially nationwide ones.

[DrFunkenstein]

17. Thank You For Your Consistency

Please note that my stance throughout the race has always been that polls are horsepoop.

Unless they are in Kerry's favor, of course.

[dsc]

23. In fairness it wasn't every single Kerry supporter

but several, whom I would name if rules permitted, did exactly that. I think we both know who those people were.

[Alex146]

19. WTF is Kucinich doing wrong?

0%?

[blm]

20. NAME RECOGNITION. The press sure pumped up Dean

for the last 7 months. He should have the greatest name recognition.

[poskonig]

22. *Dean* pumped the press; Kerry laid low.

There was a debate in the Kerry camp whether to let Dean gobble up the media time and "peak early" or spend and campaign actively against him. They decided to let him "peak early" which I have been arguing for WEEKS was a major error for Team Kerry.

[blm]

25. The PRESS pumped up Dean as something he was NOT.

He was NOT liberal and NOT an antiwar candidate. But, that portrayal made people believe that he was and that he was the ONLY candidate speaking out against Bush at all. The $$$$$$$ followed the false portrayal of the media.

[George_Bonanza]

26. I agree

At another forum I go to, a fairly intelligent person said, earlier in the year, that Dean was far left to Gore, but not as much as Nader. She clearly indicated she was under the impression that Dean was a crusading pro-gay, anti-war, and green liberal. This may be true to a point, but he's no more qualified on any of those issues than the average Democratic presidential nominee. He's not really a standout, except maybe on the gay issue, which has to do with the fact that he's the only former governor, other than Graham, and had the power to implement those laws.

Actually, I disagree with you, blm, on that Dean's not a liberal. He's a liberal. Lieberman's a liberal. All Dems are liberals. However, Dean is not a far left liberal, or anything close to it. At furthest, he's a left-leaning centrist. The media was stupid enough to just hear "civil unions" and "anti-Iraq war" and think him a flaming liberal. They didn't bother to do the digging underneath.

And I heartily agree with you on that the media portrayed Dean as the ultimate Bush basher, and the campaign soaked it up, when the fact is that someone like John Kerry had been doing it since the 2000 elections. And then Dean had the audacity to call Kerry a copycat for his tirades against Bush.