Think Hillary Clinton has the Democratic Party presidential nomination all wrapped up? Think again.
Democracy for America is one of the most influential Democratic Party activist groups. Democracy for America activists don’t just write big checks. They’re dedicated to taking grassroots action, and they pay attention to details. They’re the kind of voters who show up for primary elections. In their pulse poll, with an instant run-off system for ranking of the top three preferred candidates, Hillary Clinton didn’t just lose, she lost big.
Hillary Clinton just got 4.21 percent of the vote. She was just ahead of Bill Richardson, who got 4.09 percent. She only beat Christopher Dodd by a little over four thousand votes.
It was an even worse night for Joseph Biden, who got just 1.12 percent of the vote. Not a favorite of the grassroots activists, Biden. Mike Gravel was at the bottom of the pack, with only 0.77 percent.
Enough for who didn’t get many votes. Let’s take a look at who did. Who could the frontrunner be, if it wasn’t Hillary Clinton? Barack Obama? Nope. Barack Obama did much better than Hillary Clinton, but he came in fourth place, with 13.86 percent. Obama seems not to be the focus for much progressive excitement any more. His anti-gay religious romp through South Carolina seems to have taken care of that.
The third place position was achieved by John Edwards, with 15.6 percent. Second place was occupied by the Democrat who isn’t even really a candidate: Al Gore, with 24.77 percent.
The first place candidate surprised me: Dennis Kucinich, with 31.97 percent. What’s to explain Kucinich’s unexpected strong performance? Kucinich’s impeachment resolution?
Hillary Clinton’s poor performance was nationwide, with under 5 percent in Iowa, and under 6 percent in New Hampshire. Even in Hillary Clinton’s adopted home state of New York, she earned only 4.85 percent of the vote.
Kucinich seems to be the only candidate who’s actually acting like a Democrat. I might support him, even though he’s also acting like a fruitcake.
Yes, that is a shame, that one of the stronger progressive Democrats also supports Breatharians and sees UFOs.
I suggest that, if you like Kucinich, but can’t bear to support him, that you might consider Chris Dodd, who is campaigning very strongly on issues of civil liberties.
Thanks, I’ll take a look.
Kucinich actually advocates taking action. Americans like that. They don’t like people who refuse to take stands on issues, and would prefer to say essentially “I’ll take a stand once I’m elected”.
For what it’s worth, I was happy to finally see a poll (even if it wasn’t scientific) where someone other than HC came out on top. The wasted vote syndrome is real and we need to pick the best candidate who can endure the whole dirty primary season without thinking the race is over before it begins.