It's reasonable for Arizona Senator John McCain to count on carrying his home state in November, and a recently released statewide poll suggests he will do just that.
But the telephone survey of 552 registered Arizona voters conducted earlier this month of February by Phoenix-area pollster Bruce Merrill also concludes that Arizonans believe that while McCain would beat Hillary Clinton in November, their favorite son would not prevail against Barack Obama.
As reported in the Arizona Daily Star:
Arizona voters favor McCain over either Hillary Clinton or Obama, although Obama would be more of a challenge. Merrill found McCain leads Obama by 11 points, while he has a 24-point edge over Clinton, among those who have a favorite. But Merrill also found that 44 percent of those asked believe Obama would win a nationwide contest, versus 38 percent who think McCain will be president. They believe McCain would win, however, if he faces Clinton.
"I think a lot of people would basically say, 'I'm going to support him because he's an Arizonan, I'm an Arizonan, this is Arizona,' but still think on a national level that Obama has the best chance to win," Merrill said, explaining the seeming disconnect between the two findings.
DNC, take notice.