New
Newsweek poll. Only a press release available at the moment, although it's apparently being mentioned on MSNBC as well. Here's the meat for our purposes:
On the race for the Democratic nomination, more than a quarter (26%) of Democrats and Democratic leaners say they would like to see former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean nominated as the Democratic party's presidential candidate in 2004; a slight two-percent gain from last week's Newsweek poll. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark is in second place with 15 percent, while Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and the Rev. Al Sharpton tie for third place with seven percent. Meanwhile, 43 percent of registered voters say they think that Dean has either a good chance (17%) or some chance (26%) of beating Bush in next year's election (down from 53 percent last week who said Dean had some chance or a good chance of beating Bush); 25 percent said he had very little chance in this week's poll and 17 percent say no chance whatsoever, up from 10 percent last week. Among registered voters, 28 percent say they have an unfavorable opinion of Dean, 25 percent say favorable, while 25 percent have never heard of him.
Bush gains significantly against each of the Democratic frontrunners in a head-to-head matchup, taking a double-digit lead against each for the first time. If the general election were held now, Clark and Lieberman would have the best chance against Bush; 53 percent of registered voters would vote for or lean towards voting for Bush, while 41 percent would vote for or lean towards Clark. In second place is Lieberman; 52 percent would vote for or lean towards Bush, 40 percent for Lieberman. By comparison, Dean trails Bush by 53 v. 40 percent and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt trails Bush by 54 v. 38 percent, the poll shows. In the last Newsweek poll, Clark had the best chance against Bush (43 to 49 for Bush) and Dean was second (42 to 49 percent for Bush).
On their opinions of Dean, more than a third (35 percent) of registered voters say he says too may outrageous things (22 percent disagree). Voters also registered doubts on his ability to handle international relations (23 percent say he would do a good job, 29 percent disagree). More than a quarter (26%) say he's too liberal (29 percent disagree), and only 21 percent say he shares their views on Iraq (33 percent disagree). Twenty-six percent say he would do a good job handling the economy (23 percent disagree).