Controversial Pastors, Mistaken Memory of Sniper Fire, Leave Little Impact on Voters

Wed, April 16, 2008 - 3:55 PM

Recent news might have focused more on controversial pastors, mistaken accounts of sniper fire in Bosnia, and words spoken at a San Francisco fundraiser.

But a new study indicates that neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Rodham Clinton have suffered much, at least in how Democratic and independent voters see them as strong or trustworthy leaders ready to be president.

The study’s findings were released today by the National Annenberg Election Survey (NAES) of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

Given the tone of the campaign, a downward trend on such traits as trustworthiness, experience, judgment, and readiness to be president would be expected, the study suggests.

However, the change across time from March 1st to April 13th among Democrats and Independents is not statistically significant, the study found.

“If the two Democratic candidates are significantly damaging each other’s general election chances that fact is not evident in these data,” said Bruce Hardy, senior research
analyst at NAES.

Among Democrats, Sen. Clinton edged Sen. Obama on all traits. The reverse is true for self-identified independents voters.

-- Billy House