PLEASE RECOMMEND THIS DIARY SO WE CAN GET A BIG SAMPLE! Thanks!
This is the fourth time in 2007 I have taken this poll, with the same diary title and the same questions phrased exactly the same way.
When I ran the poll before, some folks criticized either the title as provocative or the questions as perhaps biased against Hillary Clinton. The poll was actually designed to attract the attention of people who don't particularly like Hillary Clinton but may soon be presented a choice of voting for a Republican or a third-party candidate, if she is the nominee.
After last night's debate I thought today would be a good time to see if there has been any shift among Kossacks regarding this question.
For all the backing and forthing on DKos among friends of Clinton, Edwards, and Obama -- and everybody else -- many people have focused on the need for Dems to emerge from this primary season united.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have been an Edwards supporter, but I can see certain outlines of handwriting on the wall, and have already decided (along with all the candidates, including my own, last night) that I will support whomever is the Democratic nominee in the general.
I'm most interested in seeing what proportion of Kossacks are so irretrievably opposed to HRC that they will bolt the party if she wins the nom.
You can click on my username to check out earlier poll results.
A couple of notes: I understand that I probably erred not including a choice of "I love Hillary and support her enthusiastically" but I presumed that was handled by choice #2. If you are an enthusiastic supporter of HRC please vote #2.
So if you want to harass me because the framing seems inflammatory or the questions biased, sorry but I'm trying to get some statistical correspondence in the results. You shoulda harassed me last February when I first posted the poll!
I understand this diary is not bursting with new information, but the poll results are the information I intend to convey.
I think a crucial part of any nominee's chances to capture the White House this time around is his or her ability to bring in his or her intra-party opponents. In 2004 I was a big Clarkie but swallowed my pride and worked for Kerry. I was hoping to get to work for Edwards through the general, but I no longer think he will win the nomination. So I will be going to work for whoever wins it -- likely HRC -- in order to defeat the dark side.
Thanks for voting!
UPDATE: It's been a little more than an hour since I posted the poll, and with 200 votes so far, there are some BIG differences from the last time I polled.
Two major differences: There are only about half as many votes in this period of time as last time. This could mean the question isn't as interesting to Kossacks, that fewer people care about party unity, or any number of factors could have influenced today's response.
The biggest difference is that in previous poll outings the percentage of people who say they would either not vote or would vote for someone else has remained remarkably steady: respectively 22, 29, and 26 percent of people said one of those would be their choice in the previous poll.
In this poll, a BIG SHIFT: Currently 42 percent of the respondents say they will vote for someone else, or skip voting. I don't know what the effect of the slower response (smaller sample) is on these data, but I think it's safe to say attitudes toward HRC are hardening. Pro and con.