posted on February 22, 2006 10:04:47 AM new
Poll finds readiness for female president
Support grows for run by Rice in '08, but fewer favor Clinton
By STEWART M. POWELL
Copyright 2006 Hearst News Service
WASHINGTON - Growing numbers of Americans oppose a presidential bid by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in 2008 — and favor a run by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — amid broad public willingness to elect a woman as president, according to a nationwide poll released Sunday.
The Presidents Day survey conducted for Hearst Newspapers by the Siena Research Institute of Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., covered 1,120 registered voters and was completed Feb. 10.
Some 48 percent of survey participants said Rice "should run" for president at the conclusion of President Bush's second term, an increase of 6 percentage points over a similar survey a year ago.
Clinton saw opposition to a presidential bid grow over the same period. About 44 percent of respondents now say Clinton "should not run" for president in 2008 — up from 37 percent who felt that way last year.
The percentage of registered voters who say Clinton "should run" slipped from 53 percent to 51 percent in the past year, as support for a Rice candidacy increased, from 42 percent to 48 percent.
The survey found that 79 percent of participants were willing to vote for a woman as president, and 64 percent said the nation was "ready" for one.
The survey did not test a head-to-head race between Clinton and Rice.
The margin of error for the survey in both years was 2.9 percentage points. That could mean that Clinton's 2 percentage point drop in the "should run" category may not represent an actual change.
The survey found that a majority of registered voters thought a female president would handle national security-related issues as well as a male president, including serving as commander-in-chief of the armed services.
Douglas Lonnstrom, director of the Siena Research Institute, said the findings, coupled with results from a comparable poll by his organization last year, suggest the nation is on the cusp of a dramatic political change.
"As things stand now, I see a real possibility that a woman will be elected president in 2008," said Lonnstrom, a professor of finance and statistics and member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. "Disapproval of President Bush has opened voters' eyes to alternatives — and women benefit from that."
The latest nationwide Gallup Poll showed 56 percent of respondents disapproving of Bush's job performance and 39 percent approving.
Sally Friedman, a political scientist at the State University of New York at Albany, cautioned that the generic support for a female president reflected in the poll could decline when voters get closer to weighing the strengths and weaknesses of actual candidates.
"Right now the election is more than two years away and pretty hypothetical," said Friedman, who studies women in politics. "That will change, the closer we get."
The survey detected a wide disparity of views between Democrats and Republicans, with 91 percent of Democrats expressing their willingness to elect a woman compared with 68 percent of Republicans.
The back-to-back Siena College surveys conducted a year apart showed that 28 percent of registered voters think the nation is not ready for a female president in 2008. Among those, 23 percent said the country would be ready by 2012, 16 percent said it would be ready by 2016 and 17 percent said the U.S. would "never" be ready.
"The big winner in our poll is Condoleezza Rice," Lonnstrom said. "She has projected a good, strong powerful image over the past year, and she benefits from the anti-Hillary vote."
Rice, 51, a former provost of Stanford University and a trained Soviet scholar, has been on the world stage for the past year carrying out diplomatic initiatives as the nation's second black secretary of state.
Clinton, 58, a career lawyer and former first lady, has been campaigning for the past year to win re-election to the Senate from New York this November, as well as taking public positions that often make her a favorite target of conservatives.
"Hillary Clinton remains a very polarizing figure across our country — people either love her or hate her," Lonnstrom said.
Scholars say the nation's readiness to elect a woman stems in part from voters seeing so many other nations elect women, including recent elections of women to lead Germany, Chile and Liberia.
"“More Iraqis think things are going well in Iraq than Americans do. I guess they don’t get the New York Times over there.”—Jay Leno".
posted on February 22, 2006 03:59:05 PM new"Scholars say the nation's readiness to elect a woman stems in part from voters seeing so many other nations elect women, including recent elections of women to lead Germany, Chile and Liberia."
Seriously? I doubt 2% of Americans could name the leaders of any of those countries without looking it up online.
posted on February 22, 2006 05:30:28 PM new
Who care if the USA elects a man or woman? Just elect a decent candidate for a change. I think the world would applaud if that happened, but it's highly unlikely given the political divisions within the USA.
Maybe in a few years when the Middle eastern and Chinese investors own enough US politicians, they can help install their own representative? From what I hear US politicians are quite cheap to buy <chuckle>. Practically bargain basement prices compared to some countries.
posted on February 22, 2006 05:37:07 PM new"Scholars say the nation's readiness to elect a woman stems in part from voters seeing so many other nations elect women, including recent elections of women to lead Germany, Chile and Liberia."
These women Presidents are all lightweights and mostly untested since they are newly installed. If you want real role models think: Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, and Margaret Thacher.
posted on February 23, 2006 04:05:14 PM new
Hillary's a good women but Monica had the world by the Ballz.
Amen,
Reverend Colin http://www.reverendcolin.com
posted on February 23, 2006 05:44:01 PM new
Yeah, because it's been a long time since we have had to hear about corruption in the present administration.
posted on February 23, 2006 05:48:06 PM new
or for that matter, George HW Bush's administration, or Reagan's administration, or oh boy... Nixon. Man that must be a sore spot in the neocon side. All those corrupt Republicans, it makes me wonder... hmmm... whose administration has been the most corrupt?
posted on February 23, 2006 06:54:08 PM new
LOL....rusty's short term memory seems to be failing him....how quickly he forgets that the clinton administration set RECORDS for being the MOST corrupt in our history
Besides people who opposed them - all of a sudden kept 'dying' off around them LOL....here are a few others. But link I'll provide speaks even MORE to the garbage our Nation endured during HIS administration.
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Administration Records Set
The only president ever impeached strictly on grounds of personal malfeasance
Most convictions and guilty pleas
Most Cabinet officials to come under criminal investigation
Most witnesses to flee country or refuse to testify
Most witnesses to die suddenly
Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions
Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions from abroad
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Crime Stats
Number of individuals and businesses associated with the Clinton machine who have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes: 47
Number of these convictions during Clinton's presidency: 33
Number of indictments/misdemeanor charges: 61
Number of imprisonments: 14
Number of congressional witnesses who have pleaded the Fifth Amendment, fled the country to avoid testifying, or (in the case of foreign witnesses) refused to be interviewed: 122 (9/99)
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LOL....so to answer your question....this administration barely holds a tiny light to theirs. lol
http://clinton-legacy.org/
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Don't care for THAT site? LOL
There are thousands more that give the SAME stats.
