Stephanie
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By Dave Wedge
Boston Herald Chief Enterprise Reporter
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - Updated: 01:02 AM EST
John F. Kerrys dead-last ranking in a poll of 2008 White House contenders has pundits saying hes down for the count, but the beleaguered senators camp insists hes still in the fight - and thats no joke.
Pol position: Related articles, multimedia & images » The players
The Quinnipiac University popularity rankings - based on interviews with 1,600 voters - come as Kerry struggles to recover from his botched attempt at humor when he made a reference to soldiers serving in Iraq.
Kerry ranked 20th out of 20 politicians, lagging far behind a slew of Democrats expected to seek the partys 2008 nomination.
Tops among Democrats was Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois), followed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a former Connecticut Democrat turned independent; Kerrys former running mate, ex-North Carolina Sen. John Edwards; New York Sen. Hillary Clinton; and former Vice President Al Gore.
Kerry received a dismal average score of 39.6 out of a possible 100 in the poll.
The veteran senator and former Democratic nominee was even outpaced by a Bay State novice on the presidential trail, lame duck Gov. Mitt Romney, who is expected to seek the Republican nomination. Romney was 13th on the favorability list.
Obama scored second only to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has already announced he will explore a GOP presidential run.
The poll is the latest bad news for Kerry, who has been on a steady decline since nearly pulling off the 2004 presidential election. He suffered yet another setback a few weeks ago when he infuriated military families by cracking that students should stay in school or risk getting stuck in Iraq. He later apologized, saying the intended target of his ill-fated zinger was President Bush, not the troops.
I think his goose is cooked, John Norton, a retired political science professor at Pennsylvanias Lebanon Valley College, said of Kerry. He wasnt in a strong place to begin with and then his reaction to his most recent gaffe nailed the coffin.
He goofed up, agreed Harvard Kennedy School of Government professor Elaine Kamarck. Thats still fresh in peoples minds.
But Kerry aide Amy Brundage downplayed the survey findings, saying, Polls taken two years before an election arent worth the paper they are printed on.
Hell make his decisions about the future based on the issues, not on meaningless polls, Brundage said.
As for Romney, Norton expects the Bay State governors clean image to spur momentum as he gains more national exposure.
I wouldnt be surprised if he moved up in these type of rankings, Norton said. Hes kind of well-positioned to be more of a front-runner - in the top five.
http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=169347
:teeth:
Boston Herald Chief Enterprise Reporter
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - Updated: 01:02 AM EST
John F. Kerrys dead-last ranking in a poll of 2008 White House contenders has pundits saying hes down for the count, but the beleaguered senators camp insists hes still in the fight - and thats no joke.
Pol position: Related articles, multimedia & images » The players
The Quinnipiac University popularity rankings - based on interviews with 1,600 voters - come as Kerry struggles to recover from his botched attempt at humor when he made a reference to soldiers serving in Iraq.
Kerry ranked 20th out of 20 politicians, lagging far behind a slew of Democrats expected to seek the partys 2008 nomination.
Tops among Democrats was Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois), followed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a former Connecticut Democrat turned independent; Kerrys former running mate, ex-North Carolina Sen. John Edwards; New York Sen. Hillary Clinton; and former Vice President Al Gore.
Kerry received a dismal average score of 39.6 out of a possible 100 in the poll.
The veteran senator and former Democratic nominee was even outpaced by a Bay State novice on the presidential trail, lame duck Gov. Mitt Romney, who is expected to seek the Republican nomination. Romney was 13th on the favorability list.
Obama scored second only to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has already announced he will explore a GOP presidential run.
The poll is the latest bad news for Kerry, who has been on a steady decline since nearly pulling off the 2004 presidential election. He suffered yet another setback a few weeks ago when he infuriated military families by cracking that students should stay in school or risk getting stuck in Iraq. He later apologized, saying the intended target of his ill-fated zinger was President Bush, not the troops.
I think his goose is cooked, John Norton, a retired political science professor at Pennsylvanias Lebanon Valley College, said of Kerry. He wasnt in a strong place to begin with and then his reaction to his most recent gaffe nailed the coffin.
He goofed up, agreed Harvard Kennedy School of Government professor Elaine Kamarck. Thats still fresh in peoples minds.
But Kerry aide Amy Brundage downplayed the survey findings, saying, Polls taken two years before an election arent worth the paper they are printed on.
Hell make his decisions about the future based on the issues, not on meaningless polls, Brundage said.
As for Romney, Norton expects the Bay State governors clean image to spur momentum as he gains more national exposure.
I wouldnt be surprised if he moved up in these type of rankings, Norton said. Hes kind of well-positioned to be more of a front-runner - in the top five.
http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=169347
:teeth:
:
I like the economic polls better they view a wider area and give about the same information.
