As contests unfold in small and medium-sized states during the next month, there do not seem to be many opportunities for Hillary Clinton to halt the momentum enjoyed by Barack Obama in recent weeks. Of course, polls are not infallible, as we learn each election season, but both polls and demographics indicate that Obama is on track to put some distance between himself and Clinton as primary and especially caucus states fall into his column throughout the next few weeks.

For example, a new SurveyUSA poll has Obama up by 19 points (52 to 33 percent) among likely voters in Maryland (primary date = February 12th).

New polls by SurveyUSA and InsiderAdvantage in Virginia (primary date = February 12th) measure Obama’s lead by 20 (59 to 39 percent) and 15 (52 to 37 percent) points respectively.

In Wisconsin, however, a new survey of likely voters by American Research Group (ARG) conducted February 6-7 gives Clinton a 50 to 41 percent lead over the Illinois Senator. Wisconsin holds its primary on February 19th, and, along with the Hawaii caucuses on that day, is the last contest for the Democrats before several hundred delegates are awarded on March 4th (with primaries in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island, Vermont).

Is Wisconsin Clinton’s new firewall? Well, perhaps that is exaggerating its importance a bit much, but if Obama does as well as expected this month in Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., Louisiana, and in the caucuses in Kansas, Hawaii, and Washington, a loss in Wisconsin by Clinton would mean the New York Senator would have to endure more than 3 weeks of negative media coverage leading up to the mini-Super Tuesday of March 4th. Clinton needs to be able to hang her hat on some key state—and Wisconsin has been one of the classic battleground states during the past 20 years. Her campaign will be targeting it to be sure.

But should we ultimately expect Clinton to carry Wisconsin? Clinton suffers among independents in the Badger state, and does not perform as well as Obama in matchups against Republicans among voters overall. In a poll conducted by SurveyUSA two and a half weeks ago, Obama led Huckabee by 10 points while Clinton led him by just 4 points. McCain led both Democrats in close matchups, beating Obama by 2 points and Clinton by 4 points.

6 Comments

  1. Christopher on February 11, 2008 at 11:15 am

    Don’t give the ARG poll too much credit. Nearly all of their polls this year have underestimated Obama’s percentage by a considerable margin and have only predicted the winner about half the time (that was when Obama won). The polls for Connecticut and Delaware before Super Tuesday also showed Billary with a large lead and she lost both.

  2. Eric Ostermeier on February 11, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    I agree, and my February 11th entry suggests the numbers will change in Wisconsin as well. The ARG model does not seem to capture the late-breaking support for Obama; support which, to some degree, comes from his heavy media buys.

  3. Andrew on February 14, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    But This time ARG will be right.

  4. chris on February 18, 2008 at 1:14 pm

    Hillary will come out alright in Wisconsin. Theirs a long stretch between talk and doing.

  5. Frank Wimberley on February 18, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    I just read an analysis of all polls as of the day before the election in Wisconsin. ARG is the only one that shows Clinton in the lead. However, a comment on ARG’s effectiveness as a polling group belies above comments, stating that ARG has done better than most in predicting the outcomes of Obama/Clinton face-offs since New Hampshire.

    Clinton appears to have a very good opportunity in Wisconsin to at least claim significant delegates if not to win outright.

  6. Janet Reno on February 18, 2008 at 8:59 pm

    Obama’s efforts to connect to the Republican Party, specifically Bush, and Dick Chaney, of the Halliburton Company, dates back to the Presidents Grandfather, Prescott Bush, and indeed Chaney was once an executive officer of Halliburton.

    The American military pounds Iraq with Artillary, bombs, and the like, destroying large sections of cities, and infra-structures, then Halliburton comes in to rebuild. Halliburton and Halliburton associated companies have raked in ten’s of billions.

    Obama is just like the BIG HALIBURTAN. Haliburton has contracted to build detention centers in the U.S. similiar to the one in Quantanammo Bay, Cuba. Halliburton does nothing to earn the Two Dollars for each meal an American Serviceman in Iraq eats.

    http://www.associatedcontent.c…..ong…

    Halliburton was scheduled to take control of the Dubai Ports in The United Arab Emiirate. The deal was canceled when Bush was unable to affect the transfer of the American Ports.

    Now we see what some might suspect as similiar financial escapading from the Democrats.

    Two years ago, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity gave a $50 million contract to a start-up security company – Companion- owned by now-indicted businessman (TONY REZKO) Tony Rezko and a onetime Chicago cop, Daniel T. Frawley, to train Iraqi power-plant guards in the United States. An Iraqi leadership change left the deal in limbo. Now the company, Companion Security, is working to revive its contract.
    Involved along with Antoin “Tony” Rezco, long time friend and neighbor of Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and former cop Daniel T. Frawley, is Aiham Alsammarae. Alsammarae was accused of financial corruption by Iraqi authorities and jailed in Iraq last year before escaping and returning here.

    Obama should be vetted and disclose his connection to the criminal money generating underworld. Besides, his connections to the REZCO MAFIA types, his up-coming tax fraud charges — Obama needs to disclose why he is a Muslim and stop suppoting our intervention in IRAQ. It’s time to shove an introduction to this fake rip-off Obama and invite the thief pipsqueke to meet the Waukesheake Police Department

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