Poll shows big challenge for Obama, GOP, and Trump
Washington (CNN) – There's plenty of bad news to go around in a new survey out Tuesday that suggests both President Obama and his eventual Republican challenger will face a substantial portion of the electorate who refuse to vote for them - especially if that challenger is Donald Trump or Sarah Palin.
According to the new survey from USA Today/Gallup, 46 percent of Americans say Obama will definitely not get their vote – a number that suggests the president has little room for error in his effort to win reelection.
But the GOP can't quite pop the champagne either – about an equal percentage of Americans say they definitely won't vote for Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee – the two Republicans and former presidential candidates that are leading in most primary polls.
Not surprisingly, given Obama does not face a fractured field to win the nomination of his party like the GOP contenders do, 31 percent say they will definitely vote for him while less than 10 percent say the same about Romney and Huckabee.
The news is worst for Donald Trump and Sarah Palin however: 64 percent said they definitely wouldn't vote for the "Celebrity Apprentice" host while 65 percent said the same about the former vice presidential nominee.
The poll surveyed 1,013 adults by telephone from Wednesday to Saturday and has a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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so does that mean 54% WILL voted for Obama?
"Rudy NYC: There is a flip side to that race card. He will get 95% of one demographic no matter how poor a job he is doing."
You mean the 95% that voted for the black candidates Gore & Kerry? Oh, ok.
@RudyNYC: While I doubt that number is actually 20% (maybe 2%,) the number that voted FOR him because of his race is undoubtedly higher. He got something like 96% or 98% (I forget which) of the black vote. But I'm sure that had nothing to do with race...
"so does that mean 54% WILL voted for Obama?"
No, It means 54% just haven't completely ruled out the possibility.
This is probably going to be the most contentious Presidential campaign in the nation's history! Right now the Republican party has not given me any reason why I should vote for their candidate since each time an issue is needing to be discussed they talk the opposite. Jobs-Repeal Abortion, Taxes-Repeal of Gay Marriage, Education-Tax cuts to the top 2%.
Did the poll ask whether that meant people who "definitely" would not vote for him would actually bother voting at all and then correlate the two data sets? No. Ergo, meaningless. It tells us almost nothing but gives bobbleheads something to yammer about instead of engaging in actual journalism.
I call them as I see them. Some call it as they want it. How do you think Obama would fair in the following demographics?
Hispanics, Blacks, middle class, poor or lower class, elite or upper class, the educated, the uneducated, Somebody has stacked the deck in his favor. And it wasn't me. It has been the conservative policies that speak for themselves.
I would vote for President Obama be for I would vote for any Republican Nomination. I mean come on they are all a big JOKE. Not only that I don't make over a Million dollar a year, and I would like to keep living. If we leave It up to The Republican and the Tea party , the Middle Class ,and the POOR , and the OLD won't be able to live. Go Obama In 2012.
Oops I forgot more demographics.
Seniors, middle age people, young voters, unemployed, under-employed, nervously employed, health insured and those who are not. How many of these demographics do you see Obama winning or losing, against any GOTP candidate?
It's racist, ignorant and stupid for people to assume blacks only voted for President Obama when in fact we are a minority. No one talked about the Black vote as we voted for 43 white presidents.
It's the same old story. The racists absolutely will not vote for Obama and the folks with common sense absolutely will not vote for the GOP candidate.
But we already knew all of this.
Your refering to the fringes of both sides.
I almost agree with Rudy from NYC, but it has nothing to do with race. When I say I won't vote with for Obama simply because he is not one of us, I mean I'm not a communist.
There will be a lot of people vote this time that did not vote the last time. They have seen the terrible mistake that was made in the 2008 election and will try to do their part to see that it does not happen again!!!
The majority of GOP Congressmen/women voted for the Paul Ryan budget. That budget is a terrible piece of legislation for America. It will destroy medicare and it makes the Bush tax cuts permanent. The seniors in the future would have to rely on a voucher system for health care. Making the Bush tax cuts permanent means that the wealthy will not be expected to pay their fair share. We have a revenue problem as well as a spending problem. The President does not spend the money, that is the job of the House. The House votes on a budget and if it is passed it goes to the Senate. The Senate votes and if it is passed it is then sent to the President to sign or veto. So, my point is, when the GOP accuses the President of being a big spender, they are lying to you.
To those who have pointed out that Obama received 95% of the black vote in 2008. This is true – but it is also true that blacks tend to vote Democrat (historically, as high as 90% of the black vote is for the Democrat). Therefore, you cannot simply claim it is a racial divide.
One favorite conservative talking point is to criticize Obama for "lack of leadership". Well, who in the GOTP has demonstrated "leadership" enough to lead in Republican polls. Donald Trump? No one has. Not one conservate potential candidate has provided us with any sort of concrete ideas.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It is too early for candidates to commit themselves to a platform that defines who they are. Wrong. American voters are looking for an alternative to Obama. They're desperate for relief from these stressing times.
And, what are conservatives offering up? More tax cuts for the wealthy. Ending the Affordable Care Act. Ending Medicare as we know it. Those policies are not in the "comfort zone" of most American voters. That's how I see it. That's how I'm calling it.
Sure, that's what they say now about Obama until get a load of the Republican nominee, and then they'll have second thought. 46% will definitely not vote for Obama? Don't make me laugh. There's ALWAYS a possibility for a worse option.
Obama biggest advantage is that he get to run against an actual Republican. None of those currently in the mix caould come close to beating him and they should not because they are a bunch of morons. The Tea Party has beaten nay sense out of the GOP and if they keep letting them run their party they will be a minority for a long time.
OPEDANDERSON, YOU ARE 100% CORRECT! Everyone is quick to point out the small minority of whites who won't vote for Obama because he's black, but NO ONE, including the news media, reports on the FACT that the majority of blacks will vote for Obama simply because he is black. Racism is accepted when it comes from a black person. Sad but so true.
Since most American voters do not pay attention to candidates until September of a Presidential election year, no candidate or party can feel smug about winning or down about losing.
Polls don't bother BO. He has his eyes set on being America's first dictator.
So what's the big news here? The election is decided by a 10 percent margin on either side? I'm shocked, SHOCKED to hear this. Karl Rove, bless his black heart, understood this a decade ago when he got Bush elected.
You people are so silly stop supporting the LOGOS "dems" "republics"neither party does any good for the average Joe.Bill Clinton sold out America to the Chinese and Nafta,Bush and his stupid wars,Obama spends and prints money we don't have.Politicians promise and promise during campaign,but end up catering to the banks,corporations,wall street,and more taxes.People wake up America is doom to self destruct,your loyalty to the political parties it only helps accelerate the end of America.
100% of voters who vote for Obama are clueless.
The final election is a choice between candidate A and candidate B - not between A and an idealized opponent.
Obama will likely win, not because he is a perfect president, but because the Republican alternatives are so much worse. I can not recollect an election cycle where the the Republican wannabes have been as inept as this time around. It's impossible to image any of them as a viable president.
I hope the Republicans lose so badly in the next cycle that it gets shaken back to its senses and begins promoting candidates who are basically centrists leaning toward the right instead of so extreme right that they label even moderates as "socialists".