These polling results indicate why camp Clinton launched the sudden charm offensive. Democratic voters are worried about nominating the most electable candidate – and they don't appear to think that candidate happens to be Hillary Clinton.
WASHINGTON — Democratic voters increasingly are focused on nominating the most electable presidential candidate, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama fares better than New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton against prospective Republican rivals.Less than three weeks before the Iowa caucuses, the nationwide survey finds races in both parties that are fluid enough to defy predictions and could be reshaped by results from the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire……
……In a shift, Democratic voters are almost evenly divided between those who want a nominee who agrees with them on almost all issues and those who want one with the best chance of beating the Republican. Last month, they preferred an ideological match by 3-2.
"The Democrats have become more comfortable with their field generally, so they think they'd all be a fairly decent president," says Democratic consultant Peter Fenn. "Then the question becomes, 'Who has the best chance of winning this thing?' "
While Clinton does still hold a slight lead over Obama and has actually rebounded a little, the latter bit of news is bad news for Clinton. If the voters are really that much less worried about ideology, then the elusive electability becomes that much more important. There is a significant percentage of people who simply do not like Clinton. This could really hurt her in the early contests – and momentum (or lack thereof) after those might be a deciding factor.
