As compared to the meteoric rise of poll number that the former First Lady’s bid for the Democratic Party nomination has received, Barack Obama’s run for the nod has been slower but steady. Pundits are likening his strategy to that of the tortoise and the hare, but while this fable may have allowed the tortoise to win, it did not indicate that the hare was as sly as a fox, and thus Mr. Obama may find himself bested by Mrs. Clinton if his campaign does not take off.
Poll numbers posted on USA Election Polls indicate that while his numbers are gradually rising, overall he is unable to get a good edge against Mrs. Clinton. Iowa and New Hampshire both see him at 16% and 25% respectively, while Mrs. Clinton is a strong leader with 22% and 32.3% respectively.
Of even greater concern to those who are anxiously watching Mr. Obama’s numbers is the fact that his numbers have not increased as quickly and decisively as those of Mrs. Clinton. For example, starting out at 19% in January in New Hampshire, she has since added 13.3% to her popularity in only six short months, while Mr. Obama was able to start out strong at 23% but did not rise more than 2% in the following months. Some have suggested that he needs to play up his race since Mrs. Clinton is profiting heavily from her gender. Others have applauded his attempt to be the calm voice of reason as opposed to her loud outspokenness. Either way, slow and steady may not win the race!
See how they do against Republicans in Presidential Matchup polls: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and you can see that Barack does much better.
