Following the release of the Gallup poll yesterday showing John Edwards leading other candidates in head to head matchups vs. Republican candidates, Rasmussen has some new polling information out that seems to show that all the frivolous non-issue attacks on him just haven't been sticking. Good thing we are all Democrats here and know better, right?
Rasmussen results? Advantage Edwards. See below for more info on the good news.
Supporting Edwards continuing strength in head to head matchups (he is the only one of the top 3 Dems leading Giuliani), Edwards leads the rest of the field in this Rasmussen poll as well. One of the nice things in this poll is that also includes Fred Thompson, touted by some in the Replican party as their best (only?) chance. The poll also has pretty grim news for Hillary Clinton and her chances of winning anything beyond the Democratic nomination.
Here are the current standings:
Vs. John McCain
Edwards - 49%
McCain - 36%
Obama - 46%
McCain - 38%
Clinton - 42%
McCain - 48%
Edwards leads by 13%, Obama leads by 8%, and Clinton lagging by 6%. In comparison to the lackluster Clinton, Edwards has almost doubled his lead over McCain.
Vs. Rudy Giuliani
Edwards - 47%
Giuliani - 43%
Clinton - 44%
Giuliani - 47%
Obama - 39%
Giuliani - 51%
Edwards leads by 4%, Clinton trails by 3%, and Obama trails by 12%. As noted above, Edwards is the only one consistently leading Giuliani. Doesn't look like calling bs on the GWOT hurt Edwards does it?
Vs. Mitt Romney
Edwards - 51%
Romney - 33%
Obama - 49%
Romney - 37%
Clinton - 50%
Romney - 41%
As Rasmussen says, Edwards "crushes" Romney by 18%, Obama leads by 12%, and Clinton leads by 9%
Vs. Fred Thompson
Edwards - 51%
Thompson - 38%
Clinton - 48%
Thompson - 43%
Obama - 47%
Thompson - 44%
Edwards leads "Mr. Law and Order" by a double-digit 13%, Clinton leads by 5%, and Obama leads by 3%.
The lead over Thompson is particularly significant because according to Rasmussen he could be on the way to being the new frontrunner:
Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson now attracts 28% of the vote while former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani earns 27%. Thompson’s one-point edge is statistically insignificant, but it’s the first time all year anybody but Giuliani has been on top. (emphasis mine)
Favorable / Unfavorable
Edwards also leads here. Indeed as Rasmussen notes, his favorable/ unfavorable ratings have remained stable since March, despite all the foolishness on haircuts and hedgefunds. Maybe after 6 years of Bush hiding the ball, people are seeing through some of the rightwing talking points.
John Edwards - 54% / 38%
Barack Obama - 50% / 44%
Hillary Clinton - 49% / 49% (ouch!)
Edwards has the highest favorable rating by 4% and the lowest unfavorable rating by 6%.
UPDATE
Easmussen reported today the ratio of definitely voting for and definitely voting against:
Edwards 28/32
Clinton 29/46
Obama 28/40
Edwards has the best ratio of definitely voting for versus definitely voting against.
Sources: here, here, here, and here.
So what does it all mean?
Well its hard to say beyond the obvious: Edwards is looking damn good in the general election. He is giving Thompson a serious thumpin' as Bush likes to say. Maybe we can start to see why he has outraised so many Republicans throughout the south.
But I will give it a shot with some suggestions and tentative conclusions.
Its about healthcare stupid!, to paraphrase the slogan of another famous candidate. Edwards is the only one among any of the leading candidates that has proposed a comprehensive universal and affordable health care plan that can evolve into a single-payer system. People are sick of being sick and nothing being done. Edwards has shown that he's not afraid to reduce costs by covering everyone and taking on Big Pharma. Regardless of party, people know that things are wrong, the status quo sucks in both red and blue states, and with Sicko coming out, even more will realize it.
So possibly despite it all, issues are getting through, as they should be. And issues have been Edwards' focus since the beginning of this race. From plans to reduce reduce poverty, to a comprehensive energy plan, to a rural recovery plan, to plans to grow the middle class, to regain our moral leadership in the world, to ending the war in Iraq.
Maybe, just maybe, despite all of the spin from the pundits and soothsayers, and political hacks posing as wise men, Edwards message of One America is getting heard.
And beyond that, these numbers suggest that all the Drudge/ Limbaugh/ rightwing hot air on the "well-coifed" Edwards amounts to, well, a lot of hot air. Republicans are running scared and when they can't win on the issues, well they go for whatever they can, no matter how trivial or irrelevant.
And while all of our candidates have strong points and could possibly do well and win the White House, there is one candidate who seems to be standing just a little bit taller than the others, who wants to bring real transformational change to America:
No more pontificating, no more vacillating, no more triangulating, no more broken promises, no more pats on the head, no more 'we'll get around to it next time', no more talking half a loaf, no more tomorrow. For the men and women who are leaving this country to go serve in Iraq, there is no tomorrow. For the women around this country who have like my wife, been diagnosed with cancer or with breast cancer, you can't talk about putting universal healthcare in tomorrow. We need to do these things now. We, our party, we need to be bold, we need to have backbone, we need to have courage. It is time for us to lead again. It is time for us to show the leadership that America and the world needs from us.