|
McCain’s POW footage powerful, Clinton not yet inevitable |
|
By Aaron Blake
|
|
Posted: 10/23/07 07:08 PM [ET] |
Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) time as a prisoner of war still resonates in ads that he recently launched in New Hampshire, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is not yet seen as the inevitable Democratic nominee, according to a poll of political insiders.
The poll, conducted by Wilson Research Strategies, shows Republicans give McCain’s ad high marks, while Democrats and independents also admire his personal story.
The ad features footage of a wounded McCain being interviewed after his plane was shot down. McCain’s struggling campaign launched the ads in late September in New Hampshire, where he currently sits in third in most polls.
Republicans rated the ad a 7.2 on a scale of zero to 10, while Democrats and independents both gave it a 5.7. It scored highest for its memorability and credibility, and its strong reception harkens back to the independent appeal that marked McCain’s upset win in the state in 2000.
Wilson Research Strategies political director Tyler Harber said the ad “is one of the strongest Republican primary ads we have seen to date. … If McCain can air it widely enough, an ad this strong could help his campaign rebound.”
On the other side of the aisle, as insiders start to speculate about whether Clinton can be beaten, 38 percent of those polled offered a definitive “no.” Forty-five percent said she can be beaten, while 17 percent didn’t know.
Still, more than four-fifths of respondents said they think she will be the nominee. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) came in second with 7 percent.
Nearly half (46 percent) believe that President Bush and the GOP want Clinton to be the nominee because they view her as a weak general election candidate, while 64 percent said her candidacy would, in fact, hurt vulnerable Democratic incumbents who represent conservative areas.
Bush recently said he thought Clinton would be the Democratic nominee. Some have speculated that he might be trying to energize the GOP base by building up her candidacy.
Forty-seven percent of the approximately 200 respondents identified themselves as Republicans, while 33 percent said they were Democrats and 17 percent said they were independents.
In other ads surveyed, Obama’s ad tying his mother’s death from cancer to healthcare issues scored a 6.6 among Democrats. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s (R) ad, which talks about Republicans getting their house in order, scored a 6.4 among Republicans.
Harber said Obama’s ad delivers “an emotional message with some ‘red meat’ for Democratic insiders on the healthcare issue. It scores highly as an appealing and credible ad with a strong message.”
An ad by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s (D) campaign, which features bloggers praising Richardson’s pledge to remove all troops from Iraq, scored a 6.2 with Democrats, and a Clinton ad laying out her healthcare credentials scored a 6.1 within her party.
Working with The Hill for its Air War feature, Wilson Research Strategies e-mails campaign or issue ads to survey participants who view the ads and rate their effectiveness on several criteria.
|
