The new CBS / NYT poll shows that 81% of Americans think the country is on the wrong track, possibly so high because of gas prices. That’s not all that much of a surprise. The same poll shows both Obama and Clinton beating McCain by 47/42 and 48/43 respectively. That is something of a surprise, given that the Gallup and Rasmussen tracking polls have McCain comfortably ahead of either Democrat.

Perhaps the CBS / NYT results are not surprising, given that the sample is skewed almost 3:2 Democrat to Republican, with fully 41% of the respondents Democrat and a mere 26% GOP. That’s the highest percentage of Democrats selected by the pollsters in any CBS / NYT poll in the last 15 years, and contrasts with a nearly even split around the time of the 2004 election.

The takeaway from the Times’ polling story appeared to be this line that summarized the “wrong track” findings of the poll: “The unhappiness presents clear risks for Republicans in this year’s elections, given the continued unpopularity of President Bush.” Time will tell if the current D:R sample estimates have any merit, or were contrived for their news manufacturing value.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 3:40 am and is filed under Democrats, General, Polling, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.