Good morning. There are two new Quinnipiac polls out today, of 1262 registered voters taken from October 23-27, with a margin of error of plus or minus three points.
The first Quinnipiac poll shows President Bush with 47-perecent to candidate Wes Clark’s 43-perecent. He was 48-43 if candidate Lieberman, 49-43 over candidate Kerry and over candidate Gephardt, and 48-42 over candidate Dean, considered by many to be the likely Dem nominee. (I still consider Dean to be doubtful.)
What if Hillary were to jump in the race? She’d be the probable Dem nominee if she did, and President Bush would beat her, 50-42, the most support the President receives against anyone. Hillary knows that she has half of America strongly opposed to her, so she is not about to enter the race. Her negatives are far too high.
The second poll is identical to the first.
The first poll is reported by the New York Post online as: Bush Tops Prez Field.
The second poll is reported by the Associated Press as: Bush approval rating slips, Dems gain. (The President’s approval rating fell two percentage points, from 53% to 51%, from a September 17 poll of different people. This is within the margin, of course.)
They are the same poll, reported with two different biases.
The AP piece quotes poll director Maurice Carroll as intoning: “President Bush is ahead, but he’s hearing footsteps.” The results are not significantly different from previous polls, so the statement is a poll directors braggadocio and nothing more.
The Post piece also points out that the poll puts Clark atop the Dem field with 17-percent, tied with “Don’t Know.”
There’s no Democrat-fever currently sweeping the nation. Unless or until the media manages to harp of something which catches the public’s notice — and they are trying — the President’s lead looks to be safe.
