Poll: Congressional Insiders Say Obama Would Do Better Against McCain

In its weekly survey of inside the Beltway types, National Journal’s Polltrack posed the following question:

Which Democratic presidential candidate would do better against John McCain in November?

Democrats (41 votes)
Hillary Rodham Clinton 41 percent
Barack Obama 54 percent
No difference (volunteered) 5 percent

Clinton
“She has the experience and knowledge to be the stronger candidate in the general election. She’s battle-tested and will be prepared for a tough fight against Sen. McCain.”

“Only because I believe that she is better equipped to take the Republican crap and give it right back. Sen. Obama has all the attributes that we know about, but he has not dealt with Karl Rove yet. (Oh, yes, [Rove] will be around in the fall. You can bet on that.)”

“I hope he won’t be bitter for my saying it, but HRC is the better candidate.”

Obama
“November will be all about voter turnout. Barack will be a tidal wave.”

“Change versus Stay the Course in the ultimate change cycle.”

“Obama has shown constant growth as a candidate in every respect. And he is too gifted not to master the art of connection to working-class voters before November. In addition, the ticking time bomb on a Clinton nomination would be the bundle of unseemly donors tied to the Clinton Foundation. By October [if Clinton was the nominee], the superdelegates would be wondering what on earth they were thinking.”

No difference
“Either Democratic nominee will do just fine, because Sen. John McCain is a Bush-Cheney third term: a failing war, a failing economy and the failure to address issues hurting the American people, from health care to global warming to bailing out Wall Street while foreclosing on Main Street.”

“Both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama have records and platforms that offer a clear, stark contrast with Sen. McCain, who has tied himself closely to President Bush’s war in Iraq and his disastrous economic policies.”

Republicans (40 votes)
Hillary Rodham Clinton 53 percent
Barack Obama 45 percent
No difference (volunteered) 3 percent

Clinton
“Obama’s suddenly become a politician, and a bitter one at that! Obama may be great someday, but this year his résumé is too light and his rhetoric too vapid to fool the American people.”

“In isolation, Obama’s comments, his wife’s comments and Rev. [Jeremiah] Wright’s comments could perhaps be forgiven. When seen together, however, they create a pattern that is leading more and more Americans to ask: ‘Who is this guy? And, what does he really believe?’ ”

“This has changed as Obama looks more like [Michael] Dukakis than [John F.] Kennedy.”

“Clinton is a stronger general election candidate than Obama. He is further to the left than Clinton, less experienced than Clinton and has no significant accomplishments that stamp him as presidential. Moreover, he is a very unlikely commander-in-chief at a time of war. An Obama candidacy will give McCain an opening among white women, seniors, working Democrats, and Hispanics … If the Democrats nominate Obama, they will have a bad case of buyer’s remorse in the fall … Democrats would rather choose the devil they don’t know than the devil they do.”

Obama
“Both Democrats have serious weaknesses in a McCain matchup, but Hillary has decades of negatives that will be difficult to overcome.”

“Sen. Clinton is certainly battle-tested and has a familiarity with Republican-style tactics, as she employs them herself. That being said, sometimes the events shape the debate more than the candidates do. There is a clear mandate for change and disenchantment with traditional politicians. Obama is just a different breed. He is prone to some mistakes, but has been flexible enough to adapt and withstand the Republican-like attacks of the Clinton campaign.”

“Hillary has known negatives; Obama keeps making his negatives daily. We dreamed of Hillary as the best Democrat for us to defeat, but to our surprise Obama is getting better and better with his words, his wife’s words and his pastor’s words. Keep him talking!”