Monday, February 4, 2008

Super Tuesday Eve: John McCain, Hillary Clinton Look Strong in Oklahoma

With Oklahoma voters set to cast ballots in about 12 hours, the latest poll numbers show Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain leading their respective parties.

On the Republican side, the Oklahoma Poll on Sunday showed Republican McCain at 40 percent, well ahead of Mike Huckabee at 19 percent and Mitt Romney at 17 percent.

A sizable percentage of Republican voters, 14 percent, told pollsters they didn't know or refused to answer.

Among the Democrats, Hillary Clinton topped the poll with 41 percent, well ahead of John Edwards at 24 percent. Edwards suspended his campaign last week. Barack Obama, who has the most momentum nationally, showed up at only 17 percent in the Oklahoma Poll.

Our take: Frankly, we're puzzled. After Iowa, we thought Huckabee would be an easy winner among Oklahoma's conservative Republicans. But McCain came alive after his South Carolina victory, and the Oklahoma numbers seem to be going McCain's way. Look for McCain to win the Oklahoma Republican primary.

The bad news: Some Oklahoma Republicans are clearly unhappy with McCain. His immigration position, for example, is a major obstacle in the Land of House Bill 1804.

Among the Democratic candidates, Clinton appears to have a huge lead, though we see more and more Democrats looking at Obama. It seems unlikely that Obama can overcome Hillary's numbers here, but we suspect that Obama will do better than expected.

3 comments:

Savage Baptist said...

Frankly, we're puzzled.

You're puzzled? Shoot, I'm simultaneously mystified and mortified.

Maria said...

It has been a LONG time since I was excited to vote, but I am genuinely excited to vote! Maybe it's because I just watched "Yes, We Can!" again?

Anonymous said...

I still haven't figured out who I'll vote for tomorrow on the Democratic side. Both candidates have pluses and minuses as far as electability. Either is far preferable to the GOP to me.

Hillary has been thoroughly vetted by the opposition. She has weathered everything the noise machine can throw at her, so she is tough. She has an effective machine.

Obama potentially has the "inspiration thing," as Bush, Sr. might put it.

Slightly leaning to the former, but will really have a better idea AFTER Tuesday.