82 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 12 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

New Hampshire Primary - Democrats agree with John Edwards on the Issues

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   2 comments

Steven Leser
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Steven Leser
Become a Fan
  (9 fans)

Whenever I see a big surprise happen in politics like Obama’s win in Iowa, I start researching to find out why it happened and what are some of the characteristics of the event. With only a few days until the New Hampshire primary, it doesn’t make as much sense to look backward. Instead, I want to know why people are supporting each of the top three candidates in New Hampshire. What is it about each candidate that is gaining a person’s vote?

 

I found something interesting from the cross tabs of the latest Zogby poll. When we see polls on television or online or in the print media, we usually only get to see one small part of the poll results. Of course it is interesting to find out the overall support at a particular point in time, but not getting to see the rest is a shame because the rest of the responses tell us a lot more about what is really happening that leads to that support.

 

The latest Zogby poll has an interesting question. It has a question that asks, “Which of the following reasons best explains why you plan to vote for…” And offers the responder five choices plus Other and None Selected. Of the top three Democratic Candidates, only Edwards has a majority who are voting for him because they “Agree with him/her on the issues”. 55.3% of Edwards supporters are voting for him because they agree with him on the issues compared to 38% for Obama and 35% for Clinton. The only other question that received a lot of percentage response for any of the top three was “He/She is the best person for the job”. As expected, Clinton won that response handily (over 50%) as she has been pushing the idea that she has the most experience. Obama and Edwards both trailed her considerably within 10 points of each other.

 

Its not just ‘Change’ it’s ‘What KIND of Change’

 

The “Agree with him/her on the issues” is an important question that is particularly critical to Edwards and Obama because they are both running to be the candidates of change. If you are going to be the candidate of change and expect to have people vote for you on that basis, wouldn’t you think that would mean that people who are voting for you are doing so because they agree with you on the issues? If not, might it not be a strong indication that they are voting out of response to hype instead of because of the facts?

 

For what sort of change are you voting if you are not voting with a candidate with whom you agree on the issues?

 

This Zogby poll tells me that people in New Hampshire who are voting for someone because they agree with what a candidate will do on the issues are voting for John Edwards. There are a lot of political orators throughout history who have excited people. Some of them have been good politicians, some bad and everything in between. Where people got in trouble is when they voted for someone who was exciting without carefully examining the policy positions behind that excitement. When people in this election examine these detailed policy positions, the person that gets their support is John Edwards.

Rate It | View Ratings

Steven Leser Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

A political blogger for the International Business Times, Steve Leser is a hot national political pundit. He has appeared on MSNBC's Coundown with Keith Olbermann, Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Russia Today's (RT) Crosstalk with (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

McCain Campaign Violated McCain-Feingold law with Palin Clothing Purchases

McCain attacked 18 year old Chelsea Clinton in 1998 now says Palin's family & kids are off limits

McCain says "Horseshit" on National TV During Debate

North Korea – Impending Missile Launch May Require US Military Action

Palin: Drill Baby Drill, but blame Obama for the Spill!

Palin to McCain - Oops I did it Again

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend