Los Angeles Times Poll - Hillary Leads Big in California
The Los Angeles Times published the results of their latest opinion poll in this morning's paper:
In California, it's Clinton and McCain
by Cathleen Decker
Los Angeles Times, January 15, 2008
Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a commanding lead over Barack Obama in California as the Democratic presidential contest heads toward the Feb. 5 primary, a new statewide poll has found. John McCain's resurgent campaign claimed a slim lead among Republicans, with a trio of candidates competing to challenge him.
The L.A. Times/CNN/Politico poll, conducted by Opinion Research Corp., showed that the race remains extremely fluid, even as voters in the state are casting mail-in ballots. Six in 10 Republican primary voters said they might change candidates in the next three weeks. Among Democrats, four in 10 said they could still change their minds.
As things stand now, Clinton leads Obama 47% to 31% among voters judged likely to cast ballots in California. A third candidate, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, was a distant third with 10%.
The poll provides the first public glimpse of the race in the nation's largest state since the initial round of contests in Iowa and New Hampshire began to winnow the field.
As she did in New Hampshire, where she eked out a win over Obama last week, Clinton held on to a sturdy margin among registered Democrats. But the New York senator also opened a strong lead over her colleague from Illinois among independent voters. Registered voters who have declined to state a party will be able to cast ballots in California's Democratic primary but not in the GOP contest.
Those planning to vote in the Democratic primary here, as in Iowa and New Hampshire, embraced the notion of "change" as more crucial than "experience" in deciding which candidate to support. Obama led among voters who said change was their top priority.
At the risk of sounding like a cynical politician, this is great news for the California Green Party. Most of the leading California Democratic Party Establishment Hacks have endorsed Hillary. If Barack Obama and John Edwrads get "kicked to the curb" by the California Democratic Party Hackarama, The California Green Party must be prepared to hit hard the next day with a message:
We Told You So! The Democratic Party Will Never Be the Party of Change. The So-Called Progressive Democrats, the Brothas & Sistahs for Barack, the Edwards People, the Kucinich People all Suckered You Back Into Working with the Donkey Party Only to be Frustrated Again.
I say again, Greens should leave Obama, Edwards, and Kucinich alone. Let the Demoblicans self-destruct and then our time will have come.
By the way, my strategy applies regardless of which Green candidate wins our primary in February.
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Jim Doyle
The California Green Party must be prepared to hit hard the next day with a message:
We Told You So! The Democratic Party Will Never Be the Party of Change. The So-Called Progressive Democrats, the Brothas & Sistahs for Barack, the Edwards People, the Kucinich People all Suckered You Back Into the Working with the Donkey Party Only to be Frustrated Again.
I need some fill in - Who told whom?
As to the message, who will prepare it, what will the content be, and who is going to deliver it to whom?
More than a year ago I heard supporters of Dennis Kucinich say: "If you want to help end the war who have to register Democratic so you can vote for Dennis."
The Progressive Democrats of America exists for almost the sole purpose of keeping antiwar progressives inside the Democratic Party. In fact, just recently one of of strongest Greens in Los Angeles, Peter Thotham, has been "seduced" by the Westside PDA into registering as a Democrat.
All the labor unions, of course, are loyal to the Dems. First, they feigned support for John Edwards as a fighter for the "little guy," then, some of them shifted to Obama. But at the end of the day, most of the big unions in California have come out for Hillary and the status quo.
Finally, there is the thorny question of Barack Obama in the African-American community. This is really weird because, here again, most of the Democratic Party big shots are for Hillary. But now that Barack is breaking strong, they are all pretending they were for the "Brotha" all along. And of course, the underlying assumption now, just as it was when Jesse Jackson ran, that come November, it will be the solemn "duty" of every good African-American to jerk their knees, once again, for Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" Democratic Party.
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I think the Green Party Media Group should prepare press releases ahead of time denouncing the Democrats for *WHOEVER* wins the Democratic primary. If Hillary wins, we say, of course, that they are not now, never have been, and never will be the party of "change." If Barack wins we say it shows how "out of touch" the Democratic Party bosses are with their own voters. If we have come up with a list of influential potential "breakaway" Dems, we should consider sending them individual letters.
Frankly, I am not overly concerned about the presidential election. My "Mission" is to destroy the Democratic Machines in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, and yes Jim, your beloved San Jose with your phony "Green" Mayor Chuck Reed, the union-busting Cisco Systems Corporation flack.
I am posting this comment on behalf of Tian Harter from the Santa Clara County Greens: