Considering my large readership base in Illinois (you know who you are), I’d be remiss if I failed to mention a recent statewide poll from the Land of Lincoln.
Democrats in Illinois were asked who they support to take on Bush in next year’s election. A new Chicago Tribune/WGN poll shows Dick Gephardt, who hails from neighboring Missouri, with a very narrow lead. (margin of error +/- 5%)
Gephardt — 13 percent
Clark — 11 percent
Dean — 10 percent
Braun — 9 percent
Kerry — 8 percent
Lieberman — 8 percent
(everyone else in low single digits)
The poll, fortunately, also noted a difference between those Dems who were following the race “very closely” and everyone else. Among these more engaged voters, the results were slightly different:
Clark — 19 percent
Dean — 17 percent
Gephardt — 10 percent
(everyone else in single digits)
Clark’s showing in the poll is an encouraging sign for the campaign. He’s a close second overall and the leader among those who are most interested in the race for the nomination. Clark may enjoy slightly elevated support from Illinois Dems because he was born in Chicago, but I suspect people aren’t really aware of this and are more likely to identify him by his home state of Arkansas.
The poll also shows that Carol Moseley Braun can hardly rely on her home state as a strong base. Despite being an Illinois native who represented the state in the Senate, and would therefore be more likely to enjoy strong name recognition, Braun is still in single digits statewide.