Hillary Clinton Loses DFA Pulse Poll in New York
For the last three or four months, coverage of the 2008 presidential election has been dominated by stories of the supposed inevitability of the Democratic nomination of Hillary Clinton to be President. That sense of inevitability has been especially strong here in New York, Hillary Clinton’s adopted home state.
The result of many Democratic voters has been to tune out.
Yesterday, there was some news that might cause New York State Democrats to tune back in.
In a “pulse poll” with an instant run-off structure run by Democracy for America, Hillary Clinton failed to gain the 66% of the vote required to gain the endorsement of DFA. What’s more, she even failed to gain the most votes… or even a respectable showing.
Hillary Clinton got just 4.21% of the vote. Here in New York, she did hardly any better, with just 4.85%. She came in fifth place.
The candidate who won here in New York State wasn’t even a candidate. Al Gore won, with 32.04%. After him came Dennis Kucinich, with 30.58%.
I don’t think that this pulse poll is a fully accurate representation of Democratic voters in general. Support for Hillary Clinton is much stronger among Democrats, in New York and nationally, than just 4 percent.
However, it’s worth remembering that four years ago, Howard Dean appeared to be an unstoppable frontrunner. The DFA pulse poll does reveal a surprising degree of uncertainty among activist Democrats – the sort of voters who are especially likely to turn out for a primary election.
Hillary Clinton may have a lot of money, but it seems that her lead in the polls, while large, is shallow and could easily evaporate.
This is a memo to Democrats in Trumansburg and the rest of Ulysses: Tune in. The results of the 2008 primary elections will not be inevitable until the votes are cast. The first primary is in less than two months, and it isn’t that much longer until the New York State primary.
It’s time to take a serious look at the candidates, and where they stand, beyond their fundraising statistics. Campaign checks don’t vote. People do.
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