Edwards Benefits if Gore Stays Out
An interesting article at USA Election Polls shows that John Edwards’ numbers nearly double in the south if Al Gore is left out of polls. A lot of the folks currently holding out for a Gore candidacy will support Edwards if Gore stays out. The biggest effect is in the south, but Edwards gets a significant boost nationwide if Gore is left out of the polls. Edwards is probably the Democrats best shot at winning in the south. As we’ve seen in the last four presidential elections, Democrats need to take some southern states in order to win the presidency.
I’ll go one further than what I’m seeing in the polls so far. Let’s be blunt for a second. John Edwards is the leading white male candidate among the Democrats and he’s running for a job that’s only ever been won by white males. I think it’s a fair question to wonder how much of Hillary Clinton’s support and (perhaps especially) Barack Obama’s support in polls comes from people who think it sounds good to tell a pollster they’d vote for a woman or an african american, but who won’t do it when it comes time to pull that lever.
