More on that poll

I had meant to add a couple of comments about that poll that I posted about yesterday.

First, with respect to the comments about voters being uncomfortable with some of the Clintons' attacks on Obama, it gives me hope that people are finally sufficiently tired of negative campaigning to negate its effectiveness. (Diagram that sentence, lol.)

And second, in regard to the poll's findings that McCain will be a difficult general election opponent, I suspect that people have made only fairly superficial comparisons of each parties' candidates as of yet. More specifically, I think voters have largely compared the Republicans against the Republicans and the Democrats against the Democrats, viewing each race as somewhat distinct.

The analogy that occurred to me last night when Victor and I were on our way to dinner is choosing something to eat. Imagine you're faced with a couple of restaurant choices. You've eaten at both, and you've heard from friends that there have been some changes to the menus. If you were asked to select the dish that you'd prefer, your previous experiences with the restaurants would likely color your answer. But if you had the opportunity to sample a couple of entrees side-by-side, your choice might be rather different.

My point is simply that all of these polls that ask voters to state a general election preference are somewhat artificial. November is a long way off, there aren't yet official nominees, and America hasn't had any opportunity to see them interact.