Obama wins Straw Poll of Take Back America conference

[illinoisprogressive]

Senator Barack Obama scored a victory among progressive activists Wednesday, winning the Politico.com Straw Poll of attendees at the Take Back America Conference in Washington.

Obama received 29% of the 720 votes cast in the straw poll, narrowly beating out former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, and decisively knocking official front-runner Hillary Clinton into third place.

Edwards took 26% of the vote and Clinton 17%.


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Still, Obama's message was overlaid with non-partisan rhetoric, and early in his speech he was slowed by a group chanting "Beat the GOP."

Edwards, who has campaigned most directly on issues of importance to labor unions and liberal activists, echoed the conference's central theme that the Democratic left is resurgent.

There will be, Edwards said "no more taking half a loaf" in the Edwards presidency.

Some at the conference said they found the clarity of Edwards' message compelling.

"I think that's what the American people want -- simplicity," said Kris Pierce, a Democratic activist from Douglas County, Nebraska.

Straw polls are unscientific indicators, and their results are determined in part by who chooses to participate, but the results of the Politico.com survey do suggest that Clinton has more support among liberal activists than might have been predicted from surveys conducted on the internet.

Obama and Edwards have been duking it out in the online straw polls conducted by leading Democratic blogs -- Obama is leading the MyDD straw poll, while Edwards has led the DailyKos straw poll.

Clinton is no favorite of the Netroots, and hardly registers in the online surveys, but was a clear third in the Politico.com Straw Poll.

Clinton's speech, a litany of disputes with the Bush Administration and policy aims, drew a friendly reception, though perhaps not as rapturous as the reaction to her leading rivals. She was interrupted by loud boos when she blamed the Iraqi government for Iraq's current woes.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4573.html