Gephardt leading in Zogby poll
Early Iowa Polling Shows Gephardt With Slight Lead Over Lieberman; Kerry Places 3rd; 60% Say Bush Re-Election Likely, Zogby Poll Reveals
Democratic Presidential hopefuls toured Iowa over the weekend looking for support. In a poll of 480 likely Democratic voters conducted by Zogby International January 17-19, Congressman Richard Gephardt of Missouri leads the pack at 19%, followed by Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman (17%) and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry (11%). No other candidate earned more than 5% support.
Six in ten of the likely Democratic voters surveyed said it is likely that President Bush will be re-elected, 40% somewhat likely and 20% very likely.
More than a third (37%) are unsure which candidate they’ll support in the January 2004 caucus in Iowa. When asked how likely they are to change their mind in the coming year, three in four (75%) say somewhat or very likely. One in five (20%) say they won’t change their mind.
When questioned if there were candidates they would never vote for, nearly one in four (37%) said ‘yes.” Leading the ‘would never vote for” list were civil rights advocate Al Sharpton (32%), Gary Hart (19%), Lieberman (10%) and Gephardt (8%).
Candidate Would Never Vote For: Sharpton 32%; Hart 19%; Lieberman 10%; Gephardt 8%.
Unfamiliarity with candidates in Iowa remains a hurdle for many of the hopefuls. More than eight in ten likely Democratic voters (82%) said they were not familiar with Vermont Governor Howard Dean. Florida Senator Bob Graham polled a 65% “not familiar,” followed by North Carolina Senator John Edwards at 64%. Al Sharpton has a 55% unfamiliar rating, followed by Kerry (41%), Hart (23%), Lieberman (18%) and Gephardt (17%).
The Iowa poll was the initial poll in a Zogby subscription series, “The Road to Boston,” which pollster John Zogby said will measure voter values and preferences leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina will be polled quarterly through year-end, he said.