Today Gallup shows that the division within the Democratic party supporters is increasing and the number of Hillary Clinton supporters that would vote for John McCain has risen considerably.
A sizable proportion of Democrats would vote for John McCain next November if he is matched against the candidate they do not support for the Democratic nomination. This is particularly true for Hillary Clinton supporters, more than a quarter of whom currently say they would vote for McCain if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee.
28 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters say they will vote for John McCain if Barack Obama is chosen as the Democratic nominee.
“The data suggest that the continuing and sometimes fractious Democratic nomination fight could have a negative impact for the Democratic Party in next November's election. A not insignificant percentage of both Obama and Clinton supporters currently say they would vote for McCain if he ends up running against the candidate they do not support.”
It isn't unusual during a bitter contest for nomination for supporters to take this line and it is doubtful if the full percentage answering that way would follow through, but some will.
With Clinton's lies about Bosnia coming out so publicly and Obama's recent willingness to get down and dirty despite his pledges not to do so as well as his contradicting himself about whether he heard his pastor's, Jeremiah Wright's, racists anti-American rhetoric, the party supporters are getting bitter and leveling harsh attacks against the the opposing candidates.
The ill will this is causing, in some cases, won't be repaired once the Democratic nominee is chosen...which benefits no one more than John McCain.
John McCain understands what this could mean for him also.
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