Gallup: Obama seen as strongest candidate to defeat McCain

More bad news for Hillary Clinton today. While Clinton and her campaign think she's the stronger candidate in November, that's not the prevalent view. In fact, it's way off according to Gallup:

The survey was conducted March 24-27, interviewing a nationally representative sample of 1,005 Gallup Panel members. Democrats were asked whether Clinton or Obama has the better chance of defeating McCain in November: 59% say Obama does; 30% say Clinton. Republicans were asked whether McCain has a better chance of defeating Clinton or Obama on Election Day. Sixty-four percent say McCain has a better chance of beating Clinton, compared with only 22% choosing Obama, meaning Republicans view Obama as the more formidable candidate.

This seriously undermines Clinton's electability argument.


And to add insult to injury, even Clinton supporters think the campaign is hurting Democratic chances in November:

When asked about the effects of the continuing Democratic nomination campaign on the party's general election chances, 56% of Democrats say it is doing "more harm than good," while 35% think it is doing "more good than harm."

As would be expected, most Democrats who favor Obama for the nomination believe the ongoing campaign is doing more to hurt (61%) than to aid (32%) the party's chances of winning in November. But Clinton supporters also tend to believe this -- 48% say the continuing campaign is doing more harm than good, while 40% say it is doing more good than harm.

NOTE FROM JOHN: At this point, one has to ask what is Hillary's point in continuing. We already know that she can't catch up to Obama in delegates or in the popular vote. Her only hope is to prove to the SuperDelegates that she's more electable than Obama, in the hopes that they overthrow him for her. But under what possible scenario does she see that happening? The polls keep showing Obama faring better against McCain than Hillary, and Republican voters are chomping at the bit for Hillary to be the candidate - and that's never a good sign. So we have to ask, under what possible scenario does Hillary see herself becoming the nominee? While it's cute for her to compare herself to Rocky - and more than a bit dated - at this point she needs to explain, for real, without jokes or platitudes, under what specific scenario she could win this nomination. There simply isn't one - she has no excuse for remaining in the race. And that means there is no reason for the remaining SuperDelegates to remain on the fence and watch Hillary damage our chances at victory in the fall, other than their own cowardice.