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Clinton has big lead
09/08/2007 13:05 - (SA)
Washington - Hillary Clinton has surged to
a big lead in national polls for the 2008 Democratic
presidential nomination but her chief rivals say the polls are
overblown and the race is far from over.
According to a realclearpolitics.com average of recent
polls, the New York senator and former first lady is enjoying a
gap of 18 percentage points over her closest challenger,
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, 41% to 22%, while
former North Carolina Senator John Edwards has 11.5%.
Democratic strategist Jenny Backus, who is neutral in the
2008 nomination race, said the national polls are important but
that Obama and Edwards are making the race a more difficult one
for Clinton than her camp had anticipated.
"I think Hillary is the front-runner but not the
front-runner she thought she was going to be when this race
started. She was supposed to be this colossus striding over a
field of pygmies. But instead she's in a hand-to-hand battle
with one very ferocious competitor and a couple others
breathing on her heels," said Backus.
Clinton is doing her best to stay above the fray, as she
did on Tuesday night in a Democratic debate in Chicago,
shrugging off attacks from her rivals and emphasising the need
for unity to defeat the Republicans.
"You know, I've noticed in the last few days that a lot of
the other campaigns have been using my name a lot. But I'm here
because I think we need to change America. And it's not to get
in fights with Democrats," she said.
"I want the Democrats to win. And I want a united
Democratic Party that will stand against the Republicans," she
said.
Obama, who has raised more campaign money than Clinton from
at least 258 000 individual donors, has waged close combat with
her in recent weeks, pitting his demand for "fundamental
change" against her insistence that Americans want her
"strength and experience."
Deceiving data
The Obama and Edwards camps are dismissing the polling
numbers, pointing out that opinion surveys over the years have
offered a skewed picture.
A poll in August 2003, for example, showed the ultimate
2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry in fifth place behind other
challengers.
Obama is doing well in the early voting states of Iowa, New
Hampshire and South Carolina, and Edwards is holding his own as
well, especially in Iowa. Many believe the candidate who does
well in those states will gain momentum for the contests
ahead.
"Polls will go up and down, but their irrelevance will
not," said Obama spokesperson Jen Psaki. "What we are focused on
is introducing Barack Obama and his commitment to changing this
country ... and what we are seeing is that the more people get
to know Barack Obama, the more they like him."
The Edwards camp attributed Clinton's boost in the polls
largely to her name recognition. A senior Edwards official said
the race is extremely fluid because many Americans appear
willing to change their minds.
"The history of America elections is littered with
candidates who bragged about their high national poll numbers
and their 'inevitability,' only to lose months later when
voters in Iowa or New Hampshire realised they weren't the
strongest candidate," said Edwards spokespersonColleen Murray.
"The truth is, poll numbers aren't going to decide this
election, voters will," she said.
- Reuters
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