In a recent Zogby Research poll Republican presidential candidate John McCain beat both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as the candidate respondents would most likely vote for, in a nationwide phone survey. And to top it off, Ralph Nader took five percent of the Democratic vote.
Approximately 1,001 randomly selected nationwide voters (a statistically significant survey base) responded to Zogby Research's phone survey conducted over the March 13-14 weekend. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. In a head-to-head matchup, the survey indicates McCain defeats Clinton by six points and Obama by five points.
Zogby Research President John Zogby commented, "The messages to Democrats are clear - number one, Nader may win enough support to get into the general election debates. Number two, what could be at risk is support among several key constituencies that the Democratic Party candidate will need to win in November, notably younger voters, independents, and progressives."
The first scenario discussed the scenario of McCain as the GOP nominee and Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee. In the McCain versus Obama matchup, here is how they tallied:
44% of the respondents said they would vote for John McCain. 39% said they would vote for Barack Obama. 5% said they would vote for Ralph Nader. 11% said not sure/someone else.
Next came the McCain versus Clinton scenario.:
45% of the respondents said they would vote for John McCain. 39% said they would vote for Hillary Clinton. 6% said they would vote for Ralph Nader. 11% said not sure/someone else.
According to Mr. Zogby, in the McCain-Clinton matchup, McCain leads mainly because of a significant advantage among independents. Among those voters, he wins support from 45%, compared to 28% for Clinton and 15% for Nader. McCain wins 79% support from Republicans, while Clinton wins 75% support from Democrats. Among men, McCain leads 51% to 33% for Clinton. Among women, Clinton leads, 45% to 40% for McCain.
In the McCain-Obama matchup, Obama wins among voters under age 30, while McCain leads among all voters age 30 and older. Among men, McCain leads Obama 48% to 34%, while Obama holds a slim 43% to 41% edge over McCain among women, the survey shows.
You can read the Zogby survey results HERE.