The results of a new Field Poll in California show Barack Obama with a huge double-digit lead over Hillary Clinton, and dispel the myth spread by Hillary that she's more electable. The poll also shoots a hole in Hillary's argument that only she can win big states, that she would do better than Obama against McCain, and that she does better with women voters. Yet more evidence to disprove Hillary's laughable claim that "every poll" shows that she would be the better candidate.
The results of the poll (taken May 16-27) show that Obama is now preferred as the party nominee by a landslide 51 to 38 percent among the state's Democrats. The poll also shows Obama doing just as well against McCain as Hillary in the state:
And in a head-to-head contest with presumed GOP nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Obama does as well as Clinton, both of them beating the Republican by 17 points among a cross section of voters likely to cast ballots in November. Obama also leads McCain 59 to 24 percent among critical decline-to-state or independent voters, who make up 20 percent of the California electorate, the poll showed.
This just proves what we've all been saying for a long time: in the general election Obama will do much better than Hillary in attracting independent voters away from John McCain. But even I am amazed that Obama leads McCain by 35 points among the state's indies.
The poll also dispels the myth that Obama has a problem attracting women voters.
Women, who have given Clinton a consistent edge in California, now support Obama by 49-41 percent, the poll shows.
"Women have pretty much come 'round to accepting Obama," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. He said the erosion of ground under Clinton in California is the result of Democrats' growing acceptance of the outcome of the primaries and the fact that Obama could have the required number of delegates for the party nomination by as early as next week.
Other notable findings:
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Obama ranks much higher than either Clinton or McCain in favorable-unfavorable ratings among likely state voters in November. He is seen favorably by 62 percent of California voters, compared with 29 percent who see him unfavorably. Clinton, by contrast has a 49-44 percent favorable-unfavorable rating, while McCain has a 46-45 percent favorable-unfavorable rating. Wow. Hillary and McSame can't crack a 50% favorable, while Obama is viewed favorably by nearly two-thirds of voters.
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Obama does better than Clinton in all age, educational groups and income levels except three: voters over 65, voters with a high school education or less, and voters earning less than $40,000 a year.
The Field Poll also shows that Democrats are tired of the primary fight and are ready to move on to the general election, with Obama as their nominee:
"I think voters here and elsewhere have been viewing the events of the last two or three months as the nomination battle has unfolded, and Californians are coming to the conclusion that Obama is the delegate winner," DiCamillo said. "They seem to be satisfied with backing Obama as the nominee.
"Many California Democrats are probably anxious to get the general election started and to stop the intramural battle between Obama and Clinton," he said.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
UPDATE:
I hope these poll results are studied carefully by the remaining uncommitted superdelegates in California:
Representatives:
Susan Davis
Sam Farr
Bob Filner
Mike Honda
Jerry McNerney
Nancy Pelosi
DNC Members:
Hon. Carole Migden
Bob Mulholland
Christine Pelosi
John Perez
Robert Rankin
Art Torres
Steve Ybarra
UPDATE 2:
I came across this new UPI column by Martin Sieff - "Hillary's Nightmare Week" - that cites the California poll as one of many pieces of bad news for Hillary this week:
It's been a nightmare week for Sen. Hillary Clinton and her sinking presidential campaign.
First, Clinton, D-N.Y., personally and single-handedly torpedoed what had been excellent prospects for becoming Sen. Barack Obama's running mate on a Democratic dream ticket by her bizarre, and even appalling, allusions to the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy 40 years ago. Critics angrily pointed out that her remarks could be taken as incitement for extremists to try to shoot Sen. Obama, D-Ill., the clear front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in Denver this August.
Second, a new Field Poll shows Clinton falling well behind Obama even in California, a state where she handily beat him in the Democratic primary and which had been regarded as a secure base for her...
As we have noted previously in these columns, Clinton clearly bested Obama in the Democratic popular vote in most of the big states, including the three most populous ones -- California, Texas and New York -- in key Democratic strongholds like West Virginia and Kentucky, and crucial Northeast and Midwest industrial states that will decide the election, like Pennsylvania and Ohio. Yet despite all of these, thanks to a campaign that will go down in history for its utter ineptitude, she is now virtually certain to lose.
Clinton let the Obama campaign sweep her in virtually every caucus across the country. She paid scant regard to primaries in small states, allowing Obama to build up massive momentum and a solid base in the Democratic popular vote that came to offset her wins in big states.
The rest of the column is pretty brutal in criticizing Hillary and her graceless exit from the race.