John McCain continues to benefit from an extended Democratic primary season and may have negated attempts to turn the interior West, according to two new polls. Barack Obama continues to decline in favorability ratings into negative territory nationally, according to Rasmussen, although not quite as badly as Hillary Clinton. And Colorado may host the Democrats in August but looks solidly Republican in November:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows John McCain leading Barack Obama, 47% to 42%. The presumptive Republican nominee also leads Hillary Clinton 50% to 40%. Among unaffiliated voters, McCain leads Obama by eight percentage points and Clinton by fifteen.
Overall, among all voters nationwide, McCain is viewed favorably by 55% and unfavorably by 42%. Obama’s ratings are 47% favorable and 51% unfavorable. For Clinton, those numbers are 42% favorable, 56% unfavorable (see recent daily favorable ratings). Among unaffiliated voters, McCain is viewed favorably by 55%, Obama by 47%, and Clinton by 34%.
McCain hit the 50% mark against Hillary Clinton for the first time in a month, opening a 10-point lead over the suddenly more moderate Democrat. His five-point lead over Obama remains about what it has been for the last few weeks, down from a peak of eight just as the Crackerquiddick remarks hit the media.
Democrats chose Denver as their convention host city as a means to push Colorado into the blue column for the presidential race in November. A win in Colorado could have threatened to unravel GOP strategies for the Electoral College, forcing them to pick up a previously blue state to compensate. So far, the Democrats look to have bid on a busted flush, with McCain sailing far ahead of either Democratic candidate, according to Politico:
Brent Seaborn, late of the Giuliani campaign and now back at his consulting gig, sends over some up-ballot numbers his firm, TargetPoint, took for a third-party effort out in the Colorado Senate race.
Per their polling, McCain would defeat Hillary in Colorado 52-40 and beat Obama 51-39.
All of these are early numbers, but they portend disaster for the Democrats. Usually Republican candidates tend to poll poorly early and improve as they make their case to the American voters. If McCain has a double-digit lead in Colorado now, and the two Democrats have four more months of slugging it out for the nomination, then they have real problems facing them in a general election.
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