Why Hillary Clinton Will Hold Her California Lead

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Yesterday the Field Poll released a statewide survey that shows Hillary Clinton continuing to enjoy a strong double-digit lead among likely voters in the Golden State. With just weeks before Californians start voting in their primary, a double-digit lead, in a multi-candidate race with a field of strong candidates, is welcome news for our campaign.
 
The Field Poll shows that Hillary has a 14 point lead over Senator Barack Obama among likely California voters – 36 percent to 22 percent. And a recent Public Policy Institute Poll released on December 12 found Clinton with a 24 point lead in the state with Clinton at 44 percent, Obama at 20 percent and Edwards 12 at percent.
 
And when you look beneath the surface of today’s Field Poll, the news is even better: Field Director Mark DiCamillo told the Sacramento Bee that “support for Clinton in California remains ‘formidable.’ Women support her over Obama by 20 points - 41 percent to 21 percent. Similarly, she maintains a 20 point lead among Latinos - 42 percent to 22 percent.  Clinton also continues to lead Obama among male voters and leads with Asian voters by 24 percentage points.
 
In addition, Clinton has overwhelming support as a nominee among her party's voters.   By nearly a 3-1 ratio, Democratic voters believe the New York senator has the best chance of winning the presidency if she becomes the nominee with 52 percent of likely voters saying that Clinton is the candidate with the best chance to win in November 2008. Just 18 percent say this about Obama and 16 percent say Edwards has the best chance.
 
The poll also found that Clinton maintains strong leads in key geographic regions of the state: Los Angeles County and theSan Francisco Bay Area. She is also stronger with voters in every age group including a 4 point lead among California’s young voters.

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