Is hanging out at DU skewing my perspective???

[FourScore]

I got into a conversation with my husband today regarding the dems in the 2008 presidential race. I blurted out something along the lines of how Hillary Clinton can't possibly win the primary. He was shocked and said she was leading in all the polls and is the biggest fundraiser right now. I countered that she doesn't carry her base and loses in all the straw polls I've seen on the liberal blogsites. He asked who usually wins them. I started to respond by saying that Al Gore wins them if he is included in the straw poll (even though he hasn't announced his candidacy)...I didn't get any further in my response than that because my hubbie shook his head in disbelief and said, "Honey, Middle America doesn't agree at all with you on that. They don't want Al Gore." I don't usually get my information from the mainstream media anymore, so I decided to look into it. This is what I found:

A poll released today by ABC:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/PollVault/story?id=2810376&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

CLINTON HAS 41% WHILE GORE ONLY HAS 10%???

WTF???

Umm...What planet do I live on again?

As well as this poll:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/PollVault/story?id=2810376&page=2

Along with this article:

"...Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., who announced her candidacy Saturday, holds a substantial lead in initial support from Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents — 41-17 percent over her nearest competitor, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll..."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/PollVault/story?id=2810376&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

I love Al Gore. I want him to be my President. Most people here want him to get into the race. But are we all living in a fantasy bubble here at DU? And I don't mean just regarding Al Gore. I mean, are we the "fringe left"? The opposite of the "extreme right"? Are we just cheering each other on in some one-sided way? Even among those of us here who don't agree that Al Gore should get into the race, Clinton is not the favorite. So what's going on here? Are we just deluding ourselves?

Just askin'...

[pitohui]

1. yeah your husband is right on this one

god it hurts me to type that :-)

hillary clinton is very well-liked, i am eternally surprised at how few DUers realize the good will enjoyed by the clintons, and not just in america, but around the world

[msongs]

2. gore said he is NOTrunning. people BELIEVE him! so they don't

rate him highly in these polls.

now whether Gore is gonna be a flip flopper or not and can be taken at his word remains to be seen.

Msongs
www.msongs.com

[FourScore]

4. Can you provide a link to that statement

that he is NOT going to run?

[Junkdrawer]

8. "Gore Has Not Definitively Ruled Out Another Presidential Run..."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=3137181

[SmokingJacket]

3. Well... middle America hasn't given it a ton of thought yet.

We've been weighing everyone's pros and cons obsessively for months and well, years. Clinton is running on massive name-recognition at this point. It will take a while for the country to learn about all the candidates.

Of course, Gore has name recognition too, but I think lots of people still think of him as a "loser" even though in the best case scenario he at LEAST won the popular vote.

[Junkdrawer]

5. Zogby is showing different results...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=3141015

[FourScore]

6. Interesting. That poll was taken

before she announced her candidacy. I wonder how much of a difference that makes...

[Rosemary2205]

7. He's right. -- but middle america doesn't vote in primaries much.

The extremes tend to pick the candidates for both sides and election after election middle america hold's it's nose and picks between what they see as the lesser of 2 evils.


typo

[Junkdrawer]

9. Bill Clinton had TREMENDOUS support...

It's no surprise that Hillary has the numbers before the campaign begins.

But her negatives with those Democrats who follow politics closely doesn't bode well for her run...

[woo me with science]

10. Only if you hang out on 911 and start believing there were no planes....

I still think Hillary has a rough go in the primaries.

[stillcool]

11. my husband feeds me that line...

all the time, and it makes my blood boil. He doesn't know anyone in Middle America, and yet he can explain their mind-set chapter and verse. I like to think it's an over-blown, over-used stereotype, constantly reinforced by 'knowledgeable experts' and corporate media. It is way easier for me to believe that candidates are chosen from above, and then assigned an 'image', which is expounded on by public discourse...or the media...and the people choose from that very limited information.

[RiverStone]

12. Here is a recent poll with OBAMA in the lead!

DU comes straight from the source - DEMS folks on the ground (or underground that is) :)

The MSM is a biased pile of b.s. who preach the corporate line. Don't trust them!

Check out this recent poll for an alternative view:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/01/zogby_poll_puts_obama_in_the_l.html

[salin]

13. Reminds me of 1992 primary day...

There was an election in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. On NPR they said that my favorite, Paul Tsongas was said to determine whether or not he would stay in the race based on his performance. I thought - great - he is doing really well among everyone I know (I was voting in Michigan at the time) - then they described the "typical" Tsongas supporter: College ed or more, liberal, listener to NPR (and something else that I can't remember). Then it struck me - that described me - and everyone I knew... WE were the outliers. If I recall he didn't win any of those primaries and was out of the race by the end of the week. Never forgot that eyeopening perspective. Sort of fits with what you ask.

Btw, I would like nothing more than to see Gore get into the race. But I wouldn't judge his likely success in a primary on DU voices (and I LOVE DU voices)... just saying...

[mdmc]

14. I think that we have multiple announced candidates that can win in 08

with the current landscape as it is, I don't see Gore getting in to it. Things can change. Perhaps Edwards or Obama will ask him to be veep. :toast: