Poll: Ohio voters do not support Strickland as VP; Dems back Clinton

Photo

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon)

Obama and Edwards were the only other Democratic candidates to receive
double-digit support.

By MARC KOVAC

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

COLUMBUS — A majority of Ohio registered voters polled earlier this month do not believe Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is qualified to be vice president, nor would his presence help the Democratic nominee.

Meanwhile, New Yorkers Rudolph Giuliani and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton both are solidifying their leads in the state, according the survey of 1,231 Ohioans — including 447 Republicans and 450 Democrats — by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Quinnipiac regularly polls Ohioans on different issues and has kept tabs on registered voters’ opinions of the coming presidential election. Its most recent poll was released Wednesday morning. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus+ 4.6 percentage points.

According to the results:

UClinton is the favored choice among registered Ohio Democrats, with 42 percent of respondents saying they’d vote for the former first lady if the election were held today.

Barack Obama and John Edwards were the only other candidates to receive double-digit support, at 17 percent and 14 percent, respectively. And 17 percent of those surveyed either did not have a choice or did not answer.

UAmong Republicans, 27 percent of respondents said they’d back Giuliani, followed by John McCain (14 percent), Fred Thompson (13 percent) and Mitt Romney (11 percent). A total of 20 percent of Republicans did not provide an answer.

UIn potential matchups, Clinton and Giuliani were deadlocked with 41 percent of respondents favoring the former and 39 percent the latter.

Giuliani also tied with Obama, with each receiving 41 percent. Giuliani trailed Edwards, 46 percent 42 percent.

Clinton trails McCain (46 percent to 42 percent) but outpaced Thompson (48 percent to 38 percent) and Romney (47 percent to 38 percent).

UThough Strickland continues to receive high approval ratings among Ohio voters, only 13 percent of poll respondents said they likely would vote for the Democratic ticket if the governor was selected as vice president. Sixty-eight percent said the choice would not affect their vote.

“Even though Gov. Strickland is very popular among Ohioans, they do not see him as vice presidential material and do not give any indication he would be [a] substantial help to the Democratic nominee in carrying Ohio’s crucial electoral votes,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the polling institute, said in a released statement.

UGeorge W. Bush continues to receive poor ratings from Ohioans, with 67 percent of respondents disapproving of the job he is doing as president.

mkovac@dixcom.com