On 3/15 I sent an email to a few select friends in order to gain a little data to compile a 2006 Presidential Straw Poll. For reference this was to be a small sample representing under 25 votes. My hope was to get a feeling for who everyone is pulling for in an ideal world regarding their candidates and presidential hopefuls. The two questions asked were as follows--
Question 1--Who would be your choice regarding a 2008 Presidential candidate? I am not asking you who you feel will win or who you feel has the best shot as I only want to get a sense of who you are pulling for in 2006. This person can be from any party, they can range from an obvious candidate to someone who is not planning on running but please make this a fairly legitimate choice and not Ross Perot (And no Admiral James Bond Stockdale's either).
Question 2--I would like to get your second choice relating to the above question as well.
And here are the results with links to their (or related) websites in case you want to learn more about these options:
1st Choice
Barack Obama--47%
Hillary Clinton--18%
John Edwards--18%
Mark Warner--11%
John McCain--3%
Dennis Kucinich--3%
2nd Choice (Less votes received for reference)
Barack Obama--33%
John Edwards--26%
Hillary Clinton--20%
Bill Richardson--7%
Mark Warner--7%
Russ Feingold--7%
I do not want to get into this too much right now as I would rather sit back and hear what other people have to say and then participate in those conversations. However, I do have a few thoughts regarding the statistical results--
- Senator Obama is listed on 41% of all responses which is not too amazing considering his meteoric rise in the last two years but it is when you consider his current stance of not running in 08.
- Former Senator Edwards is listed on 21% of all responses although he is no longer in office and has for the most part disappeared the last two years.
- The current national front runner for the Democrats, Senator Clinton is listed on 17% of all responses.
- On the Democrat side Senator John Kerry and Howard Dean are not listed on any responses what so ever.
- On the Republican side Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Bill Frist & Governor Mitt Romney are not listed on any responses what so ever.
Let me know your thoughts on this and if you are surprised with any selections or at least encouraged/discouraged with these choices. My intent for your reference is to do this again in 6 months with a larger sample group (maybe around 50) so next time I send this out maybe you can pass it on and invite a few others to chime in. Thanks for your responses as this should be an interesting story line to watch over the next 19 months.
4 comments:
No sign of Al Gore, either. Like Obama, he says he isn't running, but unlike Obama, you get the sense he might not really mean it. In some respects (name recognition) he's well positioned to challenge Hillary. But he doesn't have much grassroots support that I can find, in this straw poll or elsewhere...
The Draft-Obama movement marches on...
The question I am thinking about is whether Obama can go back on what he has said all along regarding not running and how if he chooses to?
Another interesting side note to consider is that Senator Clinton did not appear on a single "ballot" from a male.
Oh, sure, a politician can always go back on a promise not to run for something! But at this point, since Obama has been so vocal about saying no, it would have to be framed as something outside himself, something he MUST do for his country, for his party, for his constituents. Something that was thrust upon him, a duty that he could not deny... That way it doesn't look like he flip-flopped, and it doesn't look like he's just out for himself. In some ways, in this scenario, the more reluctant he seems, the better!
Now, will this happen? The answer is still probably not. He doesn't want to take on Hillary's massive organization, that's my take. He also wants to remain in the good graces of the party leaders & the big donors, and in general has been taking a sort of cautious, centrist route as a senator. So to me most signs point to no Obama in '08. But it is totally still possible...
I like the concept as to how he is supposed to flip his direction but it seems like the best way he could do it would be with overwhelming party support. An example would be the DNC getting behind him and making it look like they are drafting him at the request of the country. However, we know that would not happen as they could not be that direct or organized.
I think you are the only person who does visit here by the way so thanks for the repeat business.
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