Today's Article
The survey details
how many of
Clinton's base
supporters are
beginning to leave
her for Obama.
The American Spark
Obama Leading Clinton Across U.S., Says National Poll

By Cliff Montgomery - Feb. 26th, 2008

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) now clearly leads Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) among middle-income earners,
white men and liberals, cutting into the base of his faltering rival as they battle to become the Democratic
presidential nominee, a national poll jointly conducted by
The Associated Press (AP) and Ipsos revealed
Monday.

The survey details how many of Clinton's base supporters are beginning to leave her for Obama. In the last two
weeks, Obama's momentum has increased dramatically. The Illinois senator has won 11 successive primaries
and caucuses, and has taken a slight lead among Democratic delegates.

Obama now leads Clinton by a whopping 23 percentage points amid white men, and by an impressive 17
points amid liberals--two groups which had been evenly divided among the two just a few weeks ago. Senator
Obama also currently enjoys an advantage among those earning $50,000-$100,000 a year; Senator Clinton
previously had led among that group by 13 points.

Clinton still holds strong leads among a few of her cornerstone groups, including those at least  65 years of
age, white women and those making less than $50,000 annually.

But as it now stands, Obama holds 46 percent of the national Democratic vote, compared to Hillary Clinton's
43 percent. Clinton had enjoyed a small 5 point lead in early February.

Obama's gains among potential voters are even more impressive when considered as part of a longer trend.

At the start of primary/caucus season in mid-January, Clinton enjoyed a 7-point advantage  among all men; she
now trails among that group by 25 points. The two senators essentially had been even with college graduates,
but no longer. Senator Obama now leads Clinton among that group by 20 points.

The greater number of Democrats in the
AP/Ipsos poll added that party members who play a major role in
deciding the candidate should endorse the person chosen by the people--and as of late February, that
candidate is Barack Obama.

For those not in the know, the Democratic Party leadership contains a group of delegates previously
little-known outside the party hierarchy called "superdelegates", who frankly may ignore the people's will and
support any candidate they damn well please. The group clearly exists to ensure that this pretended "party of
the people" is never actually taken over by the people themselves.

The Republican Party, which hasn't really been a "party of the people" since its glory days under Teddy
Roosevelt, tellingly has no "superdelegates". Making no pretense to fighting for the liberty of all Americans, it
has no need for a "stop-gap" measure to deny the people's will.

Among the almost 800-strong "superdelegate" crowd, Clinton leads with 241 endorsements to  182 for
Obama, states the most recent
AP tally. But Obama clearly has earned more delegates in Democratic
primaries and caucuses, which has ensured him a general delegate lead of 1,370 to 1,274.5 for Clinton.

In a theoretical match-up between the two Democratic candidates and the presumed Republican nominee,
Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Obama currently out-performs Clinton.

Clinton now leads McCain by a five-point margin among potential voters, 48 percent to 43 percent. But Obama
currently enjoys a solid 10-point lead over McCain, 51 percent to 41 percent.

The
AP-Ipsos tally was taken between Feb. 22nd-24th, and consisted of phone interviews with 1,011 potential
voters from across the nation. The margin of error is thought to be "plus or minus 3.1 percentage points,"
according to
AP.



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