Obama and Clinton: Same Result, Different Coalitions
April 3, 2008
According to data from a new Gallup poll Obama and Clinton are both roughly even with McCain, but draw on very different coalitions of voters to get there. Obama does better than Clinton among moderate Republicans and Independents, but hemorrhages white Democrats. Gallup:
“Obama enjoys the traditionally high support from black Democrats that all recent Democratic nominees have received. However, Obama would have the challenge of shoring up support among white Democrats if he were the nominee, while Clinton would be faced with the prospect of expanding her support among independents and “soft” Republicans (while at the same time motivating black voters). Looking ahead to the fall election, it is not clear at this point if one of these profiles of support is better from a strategic campaign perspective than the other.”
Check out the poll for the data breakdown. I was interested to see how relatively small the difference between both candidates’ Hispanic support.
