Today's Gallup numbers indicate that despite Obama's "Appalachia problem," the presumptive Democratic nominee, unsurprisingly, is hardly dividing the party. In addition to leading Clinton by 16 points as the preferred presidential nominee amongst Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, he also leads or ties with Clinton in most demographics and is improving rapidly among all groups. Between May 1-13, Clinton's share of men age 18-29 was 35 percent. That figure now stands at 26 percent. With men age 50 and older if fell from 43 to 39 percent. Women age 18-29, 45 to 41 percent. Women age 50 and older, 55 to 52 percent -- the only group above 50 percent. Even among voters with a high school or less education, Obama has eked out a 47-46 lead over Clinton. Hispanics prefer him 51 to 44 percent. He's actually tied with Clinton on non-hispanic whites, 47-47. But these trends do seem to indicate that Democrats are shifting from a mindset of primary voting to one of the general election. And there, in the end, most are going to prefer the Democrat to the Republican.
--Mori Dinauer
