Quinnipiac: Hillary does better against McCain in OH,FL and PA

[jerryster]

CNN) — A new series of Quinnipiac polls out of Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania appear to bolster Hillary Clinton's argument that she is better positioned than Barack Obama to beat John McCain in the crucial swing states.

According to the polls released Thursday, Hillary Clinton would beat John McCain in all three states by wide margins while Barack Obama would lose to the Arizona senator in Ohio and Florida and narrowly beat McCain in Pennsylvania.

CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said the poll could be a "early-warning sign" for Democrats, though cautioned early polls often are not predictive.

Specifically, the poll found Clinton tops McCain in Florida by 7 points (48 percent to 41 percent), in Ohio by 7 points (48 percent to 41 percent) and in Pennsylvania by 13 percent (50 percent to 37 percent).

Meanwhile the poll finds McCain would beat Obama by 4 points in Florida (45-41 percent) and by 4 points in Ohio (44 percent to 40 percent). Obama beats McCain in Pennsylvania, but by a narrower margin than Clinton does — he beats McCain by 6 points there, 46 percent to 40 percent.

According to Quinnipiac, the difference between Clinton and Obama's performances in the state can be traced to the fact that several Clinton supporters and white working class voters there say they will support McCain over Obama if the Illinois senator is the party's nominee. (Related: Can Obama win over the working class)

"This could be an early-warning sign for the Democrats, particularly since Obama did not do well in the Pennsylvania and Ohio primaries," Holland said. "On the other hand, any poll conducted in May — particularly when the primaries have not finished — may have little predictive value."

The last presidential candidate to win the White House without winning two of the three largest swing states was John F. Kennedy in 1960. (Kennedy won Pennsylvania that year, but lost Ohio and Florida.)

But the 2008 electoral map could look different than most recent elections, both the McCain and Obama campaigns have said. Each candidate has shown to strongly appeal to independent and moderate voters — meaning more states could be up for grabs this year than has been the case in past elections.

[skipos]

1. How does FDR do against McCain?

He is just as likely to be our nominee.

[GoesTo11]

3. Ha ha ha ha ha.

How does Hillary do against Herbert Hoover?

[still_one]

2. Anyone who would vote for Hillary verses mccain, but not Barrack verses mccain

are extremely STUPID PEOPLE, and obviously are not voting on the issues

[DerekJ]

4. "McCain would beat Obama by 4 points in Florida" .. He was beating him by 13 or 14 points in FL

before.. That's good news.

[sellitman]

5. Down to four points and we have months to go.

I'd say this poll is great news.

Obama is going to clean his clock.

[jerryster]

14. That is good news

I deliberately left the article as is and did not identify myself as the Obama supporter I am. I remain concerned, however, regarding OH,PA and MI. I think FL is probably going red, making the other 3 critical.

Also, Rasmussen last week had OH and PA going Dem.

[lojasmo]

6. I bet Santa Claus does better.

Jesus too.

[SoxFan]

7. Andrew Jackson has a 4% lead over William McKinley

[Tribetime]

8. Let's forget about Obama leading the last 5 months

since a poll in May has Hillary ahead in some states. You sold me, Hillary deserves it.

[bowens43]

9. Hillary isn't running against McCain so your poll is irrelevent.

[DemGa]

10. Clinton is clearly the better candidate

What a shame we may be stuck with Barack Obama.

Clinton's high favorable ratings really stand out (higher than Barack)- and this, despite the smear campaign/character assassination from Team Obama. Certainly the opposite of the message that came from the Obama campaign.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x2882.xml?ReleaseID=1180

[emilyg]

18. Yes she is.

[Occam Bandage]

11. How does John Edwards do? Mike Gravel?

[bunnies]

12. Too bad she fucking LOST.

She cant even win the dem nomination but she can win the GE? PLEASE.

[disenfranchisedgal]

13. One thing has nothing to do with the other

Losing a primary does not mean the losing candidate would have necessarily lost in the GE

[bunnies]

17. Except that if you LOSE a primary you dont make it to the GE.

Period.

[disenfranchisedgal]

19. Nobody is saying she will make it

We are discussing hypotheticals.

[bunnies]

20. Nobody is saying she will make it?

SHE IS.

Have you been living under a rock?

[cliffordu]

15. So what??

[FrenchieCat]

16. Gee. You sound like you are parroting the Corporate media and

their selective polls! How industrially genial! :sarcasm:

[VotesForWomen]

21. pay no attention... move along everybody...

[AtomicKitten]

22. Since she can't beat Obama, she won't be competing in the GE, so this metric de jour is moot.

[CalGator]

23. And Obama does better than Clinton in poll in OR, WA, WI, MN, VA, CO, NM, NV...

So what?