Democrats Lean Toward Uniter, Not Fighter
CBS News pollster Anthony Salvanto takes a look at what Democratic voters are saying about the importance of reaching across the political aisle to get things done:
In multiple exchanges at the debate this week, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama again sharply contrasted what their approaches to governance would be -- Clinton presenting herself as the fighter to take on the tough battles of Washington and Obama offering to build coalitions to quell the partisan rancor. In a year when Democratic voters say they see only minor differences between the two candidates' stands on Iraq and health care, matters of approach like this are all the more magnified – and the latest CBS News/New York Times Poll shows why Obama has been getting the better of that positioning.
On the whole, Democratic primary voters seem at least as frustrated with partisan gridlock as they are acrimonious toward the Bush Administration, and they want both to end: an overwhelming 77 percent say the next President, if a Democrat, ought to compromise with Republicans to get things done.
By a double-digit gap, 69 percent to 56 percent, all those Democrats who want compromise rate Obama as more apt than Clinton to deliver it, and co-operate the right amount. There are also a sizeable number of them who think Hillary Clinton will not compromise enough: one-third said so. Far fewer, just 18 percent, worry about this with Obama. Although to most Democrats looking for a President who'd stick to their positions no matter what, Clinton is widely thought of as having a right approach, there are simply few such people among Democratic primary voters - just 15 percent of the total.
So for the large group of Democrats seeking compromise, Obama is their choice for the nomination, by 53 percent to 39 percent, about the same margin he has in national preference overall.
In the eyes of backers for each candidate, willingness to cooperate is a keen difference between the two, and a place where their opponent is often seen to fall short. Obama's supporters are even more likely than Democrats, overall, to see Hillary Clinton as someone who would not compromise enough: about half of them say this about her. From the standpoint of some Clinton backers, meanwhile, Obama looks a little too conciliatory: one in four think he'll compromise too often, which is more than twice the rate at which Democrats, generally, say that about him.
As has been the case for many years, most voters say they're willing (in principle, anyway) to make legislative trade-offs to get results. Today's Democrats are no exception, and in that we find one important, simple part of the explanation for Barack Obama's lead in the polls: he's successfully presenting himself as someone who would reach across the partisan divide, and that's what so many of them want.