NYTimes/CBS Poll: Bill Clinton More Persuasive Than Oprah

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 07:05:43 PM EST
Tags: 2008. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama (all tags)

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A new New York Times/CBS Poll taken Dec. 5 to 9 finds Hillary Clinton maintaining her lead nationally over Barack Obama. But what about Oprah?

Forty-four percent of Democrats said Mr. Clinton’s involvement would make them more likely to support Mrs. Clinton. The poll found just 1 percent said they might be swayed by the involvement of Oprah Winfrey.

More results:

Democrats are happier with their candidates than Republicans.

Demorats view Hillary "as a far more electable candidate" than Obama or Edwards in November.
63 percent of Democrats said they thought Mrs. Clinton has the best chance of all the Democrats in a general election, compared with 14 percent who named Mr. Obama and 10 percent for Mr. Edwards.
.... Not only did substantially more Democratic voters judge her to be ready for the presidency than those who believed Mr. Obama is prepared for the job, the poll found, but more Democrats said Mrs. Clinton could bring the country together than those who said Mr. Obama was someone who could unite different groups.

More...

Hillary leads Obama as the candidate those polled support by 44% to 27%. Edwards's supporters stand at 11%.

Bush's approval rate is down to 28%.
Hillary's favorability rating among Democrats is 68%. Obama's is 54% and John Edwards is 36%.
Giuliani has the best favorability rating among Republicans -- at 41%. While he has a one point lead over Huckabee (22 to 21%) a whopping 76% of Republicans say they might change their mind as to which candidate they will support.
On experience,
83 percent of respondents said Mrs. Clinton had the experience to serve as president, compared wit 41 percent who said the same thing about Mr. Obama and 36 percent for Mr. Edwards.

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NYTimes/CBS Poll: Bill Clinton More Persuasive Than Oprah | 21 comments (21 topical)

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This isn't a national primary (none / 0) (#1)
by Jgarza on Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 09:51:14 PM EST

So I don't see what this has to with any thing. Of course Hillary leads nationally, unless you are in a primary state, or a political junky, you probably don't know much about the other candidates. Leading in national polls does not equate to primary victories. On top of that the latest polls from Iowa NH and SC show her statistically tied with Obama.

OBAMA LEANS ON OPRA'S STAR POWER? (none / 0) (#7)
by niliad on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 12:14:17 AM EST

Obama leans on Oprah!!! ;(
Will this columnist please tell us how many times BIG HEARTED OPRAH has taken a party of entertainers to Afghanistan of Iraq to SHOW SUPPORT FOR OUR TROOPS, (NOT THE WAR), BUT OUR TROOPS, OUR HEROS, YOUR SONS, DAUGHTERS, MOTHERS and FATHERS !!!Has Oprah ever showed or been interested in public policy: lower middle class taxes, lower military spending, improving social security? No to all and for her to now assume and think the People from all over the United States will vote for Mr. Obama because she endorses him? really makes me wonder if she thinks we are naive, just as her candidate a 2 year Jr. Senator. Our Country is in a crucial state and we can not take the Risk by doing what Oprah wants us to do. A Responsible Vote is what the people in Iowa, New Hampshire and every state will make and that is to vote for experience, which is what we need in the crucial times we are in. Mrs. Hillary Clinton. Clinton's experiences "make her uniquely qualified to lead our nation at this time of great challenge. She is the candidate with the strength and experience to restore America's standing in the world and to return the United States to a position of global leadership. Oprah please as nice as you seem to be do not expect all these people to put their future in the hands of inexperience and risk the future of our country, Mr. Obama you should have waited to 2016-Not now, you are to Risky. My vote will be a Responsible vote and I hope all of America will vote with their own minds... May God give us the wisdom to do the right thing and vote responsibly for the good of our Country and not let us be influence by Star Power,

[ Parent ]

: yellow magnet ribbon? (none / 0) (#13)
by Jgarza on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 01:25:59 AM EST

how many times BIG HEARTED OPRAH has taken a party of entertainers to Afghanistan of Iraq to SHOW SUPPORT FOR OUR TROOPS,
SO now there is some sort of conservative litmus test on who is allowed to endorse candidates? If you don't grandstand about "supporting the troops" you are flawed?

Mr. Obama you should have waited to 2016
Obama you are so uppity, wait your turn, and while you are at it make sure it is at the back of the bus!

Not now, you are to Risky
Risky? What are you afraid of? that his campaign will attack his republican opponent with their kindergarten essays?
That he will support a unnecessary wars?
That he will tell people if they criticize him they hate women?
That he will mess up universal health care?
For real though, why should we elect someone who might screw up. We have Hillary Clinton a candidate with a solid record of messing up!

[ Parent ]

My take on Obama's strategy (none / 0) (#19)
by DCDemocrat on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 09:38:10 AM EST

As the NYT/CBS poll suggested last night, Obama is much less popular among Democrats than Hillary is.

I think Obama (or Axelrod) has decided that it's impossible to win the war; there is no way to overcome Hillary's national lead. They instead are fighting a war of attrition, a sort of guerrilla
insurgency. They are counting on a greatly divided field (and the votes of non-Democratic independents) to eek out marginal wins in key states. I think they have no intention of winning the hearts and minds of the members of the Democratic Party. They are commandeering the party's machinery and that's about it.

[ Parent ]

Bill's support (none / 0) (#2)
by diogenes on Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 10:05:30 PM EST

Of course, those who support Hillary already would find Bill to be very persuasive (and in fact wish that he could run for another term). Coincidentally, the national polls seem to show that about 44 percent of Democrats support Hillary now.
I don't think that the antiHillary crowd finds Bill so alluring or persuasive.

Ha i didn't notice that (none / 0) (#3)
by Jgarza on Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 10:11:01 PM EST

Makes me wonder, is all of Hillary's support due to her husband?

[ Parent ]

: No.... (none / 0) (#9)
by niliad on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 12:22:58 AM EST

However its a great combination! I sure think we were much better off when Bill Clinton was president than now...So lets not knock it! This may be what we need, special at this time...
Give it a thought and go with it.

[ Parent ]

The bottom line is... (none / 0) (#8)
by niliad on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 12:20:18 AM EST

We need to think who has the most experience. Can we trust Mr. Barrak Hussein Obama? A Jr. Senator of 2 years with no Foreign policy experience. Just wet behind the ears. Do we put our country's future in the hands of a Maybe, he might person, or do we go with a person that has passion conviction and that has been in politics for the past 30 years? Someone that has gone thru thick and thin of the hardness and leadership that one needs to have experience to lead our country.
I respect any one of the candidates, the all have experience,except for Mr. Barrak H. Obama and he is a risk that we can not take. God Help us all.

[ Parent ]

so you just copy paste (none / 0) (#12)
by Jgarza on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 01:08:02 AM EST

your posts.
This "he is an armature" line is tired. besides if she is such a professional, why has her campaign made so many mistakes? why is this a competitive race?

Name his foreign policy mistake? It is one thing to through out insults, but back them. What has he done that makes him "wet behind the ears?" sounds like an empty talking point to me.

If she has so much foreign policy experience, how did she manage to get it wrong on Iraq?

If she is so skilled why didn't she get universal health care in Bill's second term. She can do all this stuff, so why is she waiting to be elected to pres to do it? if she was so influential in Clinton's White House why didin't she do it then?

[ Parent ]

Not for nothing..... (none / 0) (#17)
by kdog on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 08:45:27 AM EST

Hillary has only been a senator for 8 years, and Obama has served as an elected official for a longer period of time than Hillary.

So technically, Obama is more experienced in holding an elected office, if you count the Illinois state senate and don't count first lady...and I don't count first lady.

[ Parent ]

: Advisor (none / 0) (#21)
by Natal on Wed Dec 12, 2007 at 11:55:32 AM EST

She wasn't the typical first lady. She was in fact her husband's closest advisor. It was said if Bill Clinton said to someone: "let me think about that", everyone knew he was heading to Hilary to get her advice. It counts for something I would think.

[ Parent ]

no, it isn't a national (none / 0) (#4)
by cpinva on Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 10:55:38 PM EST

primary, but unless you can show the numbers are somehow skewed, it's pretty reflective of her support in general. my guess is that it will translate to her easily winning the iowa caucus.

bear in mind, a fair hunk of iowans polled are not going to be part of that caucus. the only ones who really count, are those casting votes next month. harsh though that sounds, that's the way the system works.

i dare say some of sen. clinton's support is due to her husband, as some of jack kennedy's was due to jackie. so what? they make a pretty damn effective team, as far as i'm concerned.

The 1 % number (none / 0) (#5)
by RalphB on Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 11:18:32 PM EST

on Oprah gives me some hope for my country. I worry that our society has grown so shallow that an endorsement from a daytime talk show host could make a difference.

Did you say Shallow???? (4.00 / 1) (#10)
by niliad on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 12:28:29 AM EST

And even worse, that some people may even vote for the Jr. Senator of only two years, who is riding on Oprah;'s coat tails to push him thru the threshold of our White House. We are in deep trouble if this inexperience nice man gets elected just because the talk show hostess that has not shown any interest in the past of our issues..could it be because he is black...Shallow is a great word. If he was ready, it certainly would not matter if he was purple, pok-a-dot, unfortunately Mr. Barrak Hussein Obma is a risky vote.

[ Parent ]

: Stop it now! (none / 0) (#14)
by Jgarza on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 01:32:55 AM EST

WE KNOW WHAT THE POINT OF PUTTING THAT IN THEIR IS!

Mr. Barrak Hussein Obma
If Hillary is such a superior candidate why are supporters like you writing trash like this? Are you going to forward us a Barack is a muslin email next?
It is pathetic that you aren't smart enough to make a case for Clinton, and are willing to resort to this to make up for.

[ Parent ]

Neither? (none / 0) (#6)
by BDB on Mon Dec 10, 2007 at 11:50:31 PM EST

I suspect (hope?) that neither Oprah nor Bill decide the election since they aren't on any ballot. Regardless of who folks vote for, I hope they vote because of the person on the ballot. It's not like Bill or Oprah or Kevin Bacon or whoever is going to be debating the Republican or running the country.

I have no problem with famous people using their fame - whether attained through politics or television - to promote candidates and causes. They have every right to do it and kudos for all the attention they have brought this year to the Democratic candidates. If it causes someone to look at a candidate's position that's fantastic. If their judgement substitutes for the voter's, then it's not.

Current RoadRunner poll: (none / 0) (#11)
by oculus on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 12:47:17 AM EST

Should Obama select Oprah as his vice presidential candidate?

So? (none / 0) (#15)
by DA in LA on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 02:03:16 AM EST

Are these the same Democrats who thought Kerry was the most electable. Because I'm feeling a bit of Deja vu here.

Dem poll opinions on electability are unreliable (none / 0) (#16)
by joejoejoe on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 02:08:31 AM EST

There is actually data out there that contradicts the opinion of Democrats responding to this poll. You can be of the opinion that Hillary Clinton is electable and be still be on the wrong side of the data. High national negatives suggest HRC has some issues with electability (apologies for the data being a bit old).

Brendan Nyhan on polarization and HRC:

To put Hillary's negatives in comparative perspective, let's see where she stands relative to Al Gore and John Kerry, the two previous Democratic presidential candidates. With 28 months to go before the 2008 election, her favorable/unfavorable rating is 54 percent favorable, 42 percent unfavorable according to the latest Post-ABC poll -- a ratio of 1.3:1. By contrast, the Post-ABC poll from July 1998 -- the comparable period for Gore -- shows that his favorable/unfavorable rating was 54 percent to 26 percent even though he was the sitting vice president. That is a ratio of 2.1:1. And two polls from late 2002 show that John Kerry's favorable/unfavorable ratings were 31 percent favorable, 7 percent unfavorable and 31 percent favorable, 13 percent unfavorable -- ratios of 4.4:1 and 2.3:1, respectively.
To sum up, Hillary Clinton is far more polarizing today than Al Gore was in 1998. And look what happened to Gore.

The latest polls have HRC at 50% unfavorable, 8 points worse than Al Gore ever reached in his run for president.

Democrats like Hillary Clinton and they should - she's a likeable good Democrat. But the story on electability is found among Independents and Republicans and that is where her high unfavorables creep in. I'm NOT for picking the most electable candidate, I'm for picking the candidate who will govern best and then fighting to elect that person. But if you are for picking the most electable candidate 'favorability among Democrats' is not a very useful data point. Pea growers will vote for peas as the most popular vegetable but it's better to include the whole produce section to see what is really most popular. Dems decide their own primary but they are only 1/3 of the national electorate.

A straw poll of Iowa Republicans this summer had Barack Obama as the third favorite candidate. It's one poll in the middle of a quiet summer but I think it fits with the Obama's larger narrative of unifying the country (I know...I'm a naive hopemonger) if he, in fact, is more popular among rank-and-file Republicans than John McCain and Fred Thompson. It's not just goo-goo talk when Obama talks about bringing people together. In Iowa where Republican people are seeing him up close they like Obama better than half their field of candidates. This in my view is a feature, not a bug, of Obama's candidacy.

yeah sure oprah (none / 0) (#18)
by starcycle on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 09:28:38 AM EST

That's all we need now in these difficult times -- a daytime tv star like Oprah with zero political knowledge or experience to start telling us who to vote for. At least Bill has 8 years of experience as president and more years running a state as a governor. And he's known Hillary for decades, obviously, not like Oprah just jumping on the Obama bandwagon. I'll take his recommendation of what's best for the country over Oprah's any day of the week.

Stop the hate! (none / 0) (#20)
by robertincharlotte on Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 09:52:02 PM EST

As a Hillary supporter I can avow that noone condones the racist and hateful slurs regaurding Obama. I find it very troublesome and Hillary does not advocate or follow this train of thinking either. To those who try to slur Obama by saying he's muslum or by bringing up his skin color, shame on you. Hillary has also had her share of hate mongers trashing her as a woman. It's time for both sides to agree on this one thing. The bigotry and hate speach has got to go. I obviously want Hillary to win, but all candidates, including Obama and Hillary deserve common respect and dignity. Debate the facts and the issues, not race, sex or creed. Stop the hate, stop it now!