Edwards and Electability
Would John Edwards have the best chance of beating a Republican in the general election? A new poll released this week suggests he might.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll matched each of the three leading candidates in the Democratic field against the four leading Republicans. Edwards was the only one of the Democrats who came out ahead of all four Republican frontrunners. From CNN’s summary:
On the Democratic side, Edwards performs best against each of the leading Republicans. In addition to beating Huckabee by 25 percent and McCain by 8 percent, the North Carolina Democrat beats Romney by 22 percentage points (59 percent to 37 percent) and Giuliani by 9 percentage points (53 percent to 44 percent).
The poll shows that, in head-to-head match-ups, Hillary Clinton would beat Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, but would lose by a thin margin to John McCain. Barack Obama came out on top of Huckabee, Romney and Giuliani, but would tie McCain.
All hypothetical of course, but it’s a fascinating poll. It suggests that in a general election, Edwards would do best for the Democrats and McCain would do best for the GOP. But first, Edwards and McCain would have to win the nomination. And right now, both men are trailing within their own parties.
Full poll results here.
James, good luck with your new blog. I hope that you’re enjoying the cold weather and hot politics in Iowa.
While you’re out there, don’t forget the races in NC, including your home town Lieutenant Governor candidate. (I’m still excited about my endorsement last week by the Progressive Democrats of North Carolina at their annual meeting.)
Dan Besse
Democrat for Lieutenant Governor
Dan Besse on 12/14/2007 (8:30 pm)
Welcome to the blogging world! Very glad to see the WSJ jumping into the fray. Ryan under the Dome gave you a nice promo today, which is how I found you.
Don’t be a stranger. Come see us.
James
PS One of the ironies of newspaper blogs is that the bloggers almost never post anywhere else. Ya’ll expect us to come to you, which we’ll do . . . to a point. Which is why I’m officially inviting you to let us know what you’re doing from time to time.
Good luck!
Anglico on 12/14/2007 (1:36 pm)