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Clinton cruising toward win
21/04/2008 23:03 - (SA)
Washington - Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton is cruising toward a win in Tuesday's nominating contest in the crucial blue-collar state of Pennsylvania, polls suggested.
After weeks of hard-fought politicking, Clinton led rival Barack Obama with 52% of likely voters saying they would choose the former first lady, over 42% for the Illinois senator seeking to become American's first black president according to a Suffolk University poll released on Monday.
A separate survey showed a smaller margin but also found Clinton had increased her edge over the weekend, gaining two points to boost her lead over Obama by 48% to 42%, according to a Newsmax/Zogby poll.
Obama lost one point of support and undecideds dropped by two points, but the figures still kept Clinton's edge over Obama within the Newsmax/Zogby poll's four percentage point margin of error.
Despite showing a larger edge for Clinton, the Suffolk University poll showed mixed sentiment among voters when it came to who would ultimately become the next president, with 42% choosing Obama and 32% Clinton, regardless of whom they personally supported.
Fourteen percent said they believed the presumptive Republican nominee would win the White House, while 12% were undecided.
While pundits have said Clinton needed a strong, 10-point margin of victory to keep her presidential hopes alive, some analysts said the protracted Democratic battle for the party's nomination spelled trouble.
"Hillary Clinton's projected win in Pennsylvania poses some serious problems for the Democratic Party at this point," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Centre.
"First, it continues a bitter battle between the Democratic combatants; second, with two percent of core Democratic supporters fleeing to McCain, electability in November becomes a quantifiable problem; and third, it begs the question of who in the Democratic Party will become the ultimate peacemaker."
The Suffolk poll also showed that 20% of likely Democratic voters would cross party lines and vote for McCain in November if their Democratic choice did not win the nomination.
The Suffolk poll queried 600 likely Democratic Pennsylvania voters on April 19 and 20, and had a margin of error of four percent.
- AFP
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US Elections Special Report
