As primaries approach, the poll asked Arkansans this pre-election question: “If the presidential election were held today, who would you vote for for president?” In answer to this open-ended question, 35 percent of respondents named Hillary Clinton. The next most frequently named candidates were Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee at 8 percent each. More than one quarter of respondents hadn’t yet decided who would get their vote.
The poll also asked respondents what they thought the chances were that certain candidates would be nominated or elected. Democratic voters were asked about Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Bill Richardson. When it comes to gaining the party’s nomination, 93 percent agreed or strongly agreed that Clinton could be nominated, well above the 49 percent who agreed or strongly agreed that Obama could win the nomination. At the same time, 79 percent of Democratic Arkansans agreed or strongly agreed that Clinton could actually win the election, again well above Obama’s 41 percent. Edwards’ electability came in at 37 percent and Richardson’s at 13 percent.
