Comments on: Who Will Edwards’ Voters Support?

By: charles austin

charles austin — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:26:14 +0000

Tongue firmly in cheek... if many of Edwards' voters could support themselves, much less anyone else, then they probably wouldn't be Edwards' supporters to begin with.

By: Xpatriated Texan » Mid-Day Herd

Xpatriated Texan » Mid-Day Herd — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:15:45 +0000

[...] the departure of Rudy 9iu11iani and John Edwards, a fair question is: Who will their voters support? Will Rudy’s minions bolt to the other northeastern liberal Republican masquerading as a [...]

By: Matthew Stinson

Matthew Stinson — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:58:12 +0000

If race and gender plays into this, I'd say most of Edwards' support goes to Hillary since in many of the contests they split the same segments of the population such as white males. If ideology is more of a factor, then Edwards' voters go to Obama over Hillary. Neither of them are big "class warriors" like Edwards, mind you, but Obama seems closer to Edwards overall.

By: ken

ken — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:14:17 +0000

Alex, don't feel alone about lack of predictive ability. Even the professional pollsters have been way off when compared to the actual election results.

That said, an exit poll is more reliable than a pre-election poll. On that basis I would day that Dana has a point and that Clinton will benefit from Edwards dropping out.

This makes some sense because she is hitting hard on the economic pocketbook issues that most voters care about. Fewer voters understand or care about post-partisan politics (whatever that means) when faced with economic uncertainty.

The upcoming debate will give both HRC and BHO a chance to play populist for a day. The winner will be the one who can pull it off most convincingly. My prediction: slight advantage Hillary.

By: Mark C. Eades

Mark C. Eades — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:40:59 +0000

Whom Edwards himself chooses to endorse will make all the difference. If Edwards endorses and campaigns enthusiastically to his supporters for one candidate or the other, many will likely take him at his word. They wouldn't be supporting him now if they didn't respect his opinion. Since Edwards like Obama has run as a populist, anti-establishment, anti-Hillary candidate, the Obama camp would seem to be the natural place for him to go. To do otherwise at this point, given the Clintons' increasingly tarnished reputation, would look like a sell-out.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:41:11 +0000

It's all up to how Obama plays it now, and whether Edwards will support either candidate before Feb 5. It's possible to swing the majority of Edward's supporters to Obama's camp if his campaign is smart enough.