As Barack Obama inches closer to announcing his running mate, more than a quarter of Democratic delegates say they would like him to choose Hillary Clinton, far more than named anybody else, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.
More than a third of Democratic delegates offered no opinion about who they want Mr. Obama to choose as his vice-presidential nominee. But among those who did state a preference, Senator Clinton was the overwhelming favorite, with 28 percent of Democratic delegates (including about as many men as women) saying they would like her to be on the ticket.
Senator Joe Biden, Democrat of Delaware, placed a distant second, with 6 percent of those surveyed backing him. No one else garnered more than 5 percent support; Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina (presumably in interviews conducted before his public acknowledgment of an extra-marital affair) were each named by 4 percent of delegates. Other mentions included Senator Jim Webb of Virginia (3 percent), Gov. Tim Kaine (2 percent) of Virginia and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (2 percent) of Kansas.
Mrs. Clinton’s lead in preference for the No. 2 spot is being fueled by her pledged delegates. Among those delegates who were committed to support her when they were selected, 6 in 10 say they want to see her chosen as the vice-presidential nominee. That compares with a mere 3 percent of Mr. Obama’s pledged delegates. Indeed Mr. Obama’s pledged delegates offered no clear favorite, with nearly half of them having no opinion.
Sixty-one percent of delegates surveyed said they thought Mrs. Clinton would help Mr. Obama’s chances of winning the election if she was added to the ticket, while 13 percent said she would hurt his chances and 18 percent said she would not make a difference. Again, there’s a large difference in opinion between Mrs. Clinton’s and Mr. Obama’s pledged delegates. More than 9 in 10 of Mrs. Clinton’s pledged delegates said she would help, but just over a third of Mr. Obama’s agreed.
The poll of 970 Democratic delegates selected at random was conducted by telephone and online from July 16 to August 17 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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