We are now beginning to hear it over and over. The desperate Clinton camp, clinging to any reason to stay in the race, has been repeatedly claiming that their candidate is much stronger in the general election than Barack Obama. She even went so far as to claim, falsely, that she is ahead in every poll.
Ostensibly, it is in fact true that Clinton is polling better than Barack Obama. Looking at an analysis, such as poblano's, it does appear as though the electoral map is more favorable to Clinton. This is because she is polling better in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, and, unlike Obama, she is able to put Arkansas and West Virginia into play. In fact, Clinton has even sent a letter to superdelegates claiming she is the stronger candidate, complete with an electoral map created by Karl Rove.
What's the matter with all this?
The problem, of course, is that Clinton's strong numbers have only improved over Obama's very recently. For the majority of the campaign, Obama was polling ahead of Clinton. This can be seen by looking at poblano's win percentage tracker:
So what has happened to Hillary to give her such a boost?
In reality, it's a question of what hasn't been done. Clinton has not been attacked in weeks. Obama has the nomination all but clinched, and is trying to win graciously - as a result he stopped attacking Clinton weeks ago and has turned his attention to the contest vs. McCain. On the other front, the Republicans, who used to passionately hate Clinton, have been encouraging her campaign. Instead of their usual vitriol towards the Clintons, they have started to actively cheer her on, as she weakens Obama as a proxy for McCain.
As Clinton has faced absolutely zero scrutiny, it is no wonder that her poll numbers have risen. On the other hand, Obama has been attacked on two fronts, by both Republicans and his Democrat opponent. He faces outrageous claims and distortions every day. It is little wonder that Clinton has inched ahead in the polling as she is spared any criticism - one has to wonder how low her poll numbers would be if she had to contend with Republican distortions daily while also fending off a Democratic challenger with no regard for damaging the party.
The reason why Clinton is polling so well in the general election is because she has no chance of actually participating in it - that is, she appears like she has a good chance of winning only because she in fact has no chance at all.