Voters apparently do not like Gore's telling them to get behind Dean...

[flpoljunkie]

At 3:25PM with 76,816 votes cast, 86% of voters say that campaign endorsements do not influence how they vote. Perhaps a backlash in the works here.

http://www.cnn.com/POLLSERVER/results/7752.content.html

[eileen_d]

1. I think you're reading too much into that

Campaign endorsements don't influence my vote either, but I don't think Gore is holding a gun to my head. He can endorse who he pleases; I don't think he's subverting democracy by doing so.

[metisnation]

2. doubtful

Dean is finally getting the media coverage he deserves.

[burning bush]

3. Your post doesn't follow your title ...

I don't see what that poll has to do with Gore's endorsement of Dean, specifically.

[quinnox]

4. This is what I thought

Contrary to the hyperventilations of un-named supporters, the Gore endorsement doesn't mean all that much.

Well, not as much as they (and the corporate media whores) would like to believe anyway.

[HuckleB]

8. Most of the hyperventilating seemed to come from Dean haters.

I'm just saying...

[Patriot_Spear]

26. You got it...

Oh well...

[Forkboy]

11. Sure seemed to bother you

make up your mind.

[quinnox]

15. What bothered me was different

It wasn't really about the effect of the endorsement, it was more about the choice of words.

[ramapo]

5. Endorsements annoy me

Who really cares that Gore endorses Dean. I like Dean. I like Clark. When it comes time I'll decide who gets my vote. I'm glad Gore thinks Dean is such a viable candidate but it doesn't influence my selection.

[Larkspur]

6. No backlash, just voters saying that endorsements don't influence them

What endorsements like Gore's do is get the endorser's network and reputation with other activists behind the recipient of the endorsement. And of course, and endorsement by the 2000 Popular Vote winner also conveys to his supporters past and present that he is passing the torch to a new standard bearer. Gore's endorsement already got one of his long time activists to support Dean.

[HuckleB]

7. Backlash?

Endorsements don't play that much into the decisions of many voters. Further, even fewer are going to admit to themselves that they do play a part. We all want to believe that we make our own decisions fully based on nothing but the facts. Anway, big shock. But that hardly means there's a backlash against candidates who get endorsements.

[Liberal Veteran]

9. I am sick to death of the whiny sour grapes posts over this endorsement.

Al Gore is a private citizen and he can throw his support behind whomever he damn well pleases. I wish some of the people who are so partisan about their particular candidate are making themselves look like spoiled children who got told they weren't going to get the latest video game or something would realize how ridiculous they sound. I have no particular affiliation with any candidate at this point but the sour grapes posts are really making me consider becoming a Dean partisan because I do not want to be associated with the people who are whining like Gore stole something of their's as if they were entitled to it.

[stickdog]

10. Yeah, that's the ticket.

And my wife is Morgan Fairchild.

What this tells me is that 86% of those who answered don't care about endorsements and 14% do.

It doesn't say a thing about any wishful backlash, now does it?

[LuminousX]

25. If we can extrapolate

14% of undecided voters may take an extra look at Dean when making up their minds because of the Gore endorsement.

[ecstatic]

12. who would answer yes to a question like that?

That's like admitting that you can't think for yourself. Of course Gore's endorsement will make a difference, but don't expect to hear a bunch of people admitting that they are sheep.

[littlejoe]

13. I think you are under the influence

of some controlled substance, perhaps oxycontin, and are going through some paranoid delusional phase.

[Catherine Vincent]

14. In actuality, voters do not like ANYONE telling them to get behind Dean.

Endorsements are no big deal. That is a common opinion.

[pezcore64]

16. ...

How will Al Gore's endorsement affect Howard Dean's campaign?

Help it 62% 71531 votes

Hinder it 38% 43127 votes
Total: 114658 votes



http://www.cnn.com/POLLSERVER/results/7743.content.html



;)

[HFishbine]

21. There you go!

There's the backlash.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

17. How about this instead? 1) The voters are in whatever Holiday mood...

...they can pull together this year;

2) It's way too early in the race for most people to have any personal stake in the election (if we have one at all);

and 3) Of the voters that failed to vote in one or more of the past elections, what percentage of those folks will vote in 2004? How many of those people give a damn about anything having to do with elections?

[deminflorida]

18. Among informed Voters the backlash has already started......

But only among the informed ones, but word spreads fast. Look for it to raise it's ugly head during the debate tonight. Who knows what it's going to cause happen in N.H. which is famous for bucking systems.

[littlejoe]

24. To all of you Clark supporters,

You can dress a pig up and it's still a pig.

[littlejoe]

19. Endorsements do influence voters

for the simple reason that endorsements translate into campaign contributions. Campaign contributions allow a campaign to run in all fifty states, allowing the candidate to get their message out, through numerous media outlets. Yes indeed, endorsements mean a lot.

[killbotfactory]

20. He wasn't telling anyone to do anything

He was just offering his opinion about the race. Take it or leave it.

[Padraig18]

22. An online poll means exactly zip...

We here at DU know how easily online polls can be manipulated.

[tsipple]

23. There's Actually Hard Data on the Value of a Gore Endorsement

Futures contracts on a Dean nomination at the Iowa Electronic Markets spiked up nearly 10 cents, from 62.3 to 72 (+16%). (Your contract will pay one dollar in the event Dean is the nominee, zero otherwise.)

Other candidates' contracts were as follows, also using the daily closing prices from before and after the news:

Hillary Clinton: 9.4 down to 5.5 (-41%).
Wesley Clark: 10.7 down to 9.8 (-8%).
Dick Gephardt: 9.5 down to 7.1 (-25%).
John Kerry: 4.2 down to 1.4 (-67%).
Joe Lieberman: 1.8 down to 1.6 (-11%).
Anyone Else (incl. Edwards): steady at 3.2.

Pretend now I'm talking like Lou Dobbs :-) : "Dean -- symbol 'WIN' -- is now at 76 cents in mid-afternoon trading, hovering near its all-time high. Clinton has recovered slightly (to 6.3 cents), while Clark is down to 7.5 cents as we're on the air here. Gephardt has shown further erosion to 5.7 cents, Kerry is well off the bottom at 4 cents, and Lieberman is steady at 1.6. Finally, the rest of the field (including Edwards) is up slightly to 3.4 -- an obvious sign that Gore had no option value as a candidate himself in this market. Bid-ask spreads are pretty wide right now, though, suggesting a market still reeling from the endorsement news with traders unsure of the value of their holdings."

Tradesports.com had similar data, although that market is somewhat less traded.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

27. I know of 2 Dean-leaning Indys who are really turned off

Ironically, I had been working on getting them to the "Clark" camp. When I heard that Gore had endorsed Dean I thought "Oh boy - there's two new people who will solidly be for Dean." We are part of a political group (Republicans, Independents and Democrats For Change) that may endorse one of the candidates so this is an important issue. Four of the people on the exec. committee were Clark supporters and those two were leaning towards Dean.

When I spoke to both of them - much to my surprise they were very ticked off - saying that Gore shouldn't try to be "king-maker," that he should have allowed the primary process to work and that this just further divides the Dem party. One also agreed with the sentiment that Gore wants to see Dean win so that he can jump in in 2008 (note: this is not a Gore fan).

[Terwilliger]

28. I guess I just don't understand

should nobody EVER endorse ANY candidate? and, when is it acceptable for anyone to endorse anybody?

This is ludicrous. Al Gore decided to support Dean...what is the MAJOR MALFUNCTION?!?!?

[littlejoe]

31. Terwilliger, can you possibly

be that naiive?

[CMT]

29. I agree with that

I recall when Kerry people on this board touted ex-Governor Jeanne Shaheen's endorsement of Kerry as being a turning point of his campaign in NH and that didn't wash.

Endorsments are nice to get and they can have some influence more so with undecideds or firming up some current support. I don't believe they will convince tons of people to vote for a certain candidate.

That said on many levels the Gore endorsment was still huge.

[ParanoidPat]

30. Perhaps you need a few extra staples in your tin foil hat......

......to hold it on! :evilgrin:

You also need to read the rules for posting in GD! The poll has nothing to do with Gore or Dean. :eyes: