Kucinich First, Edwards Second in PDA Straw Poll

Not surprisingly in a field of eight contenders, no candidate came close to gaining a majority of the total vote in PDA's recently completed presidential straw poll. But two candidates--Dennis Kucinich (41%) and John Edwards (26%)--combined for more than 2/3 of the total vote. Over 15,000 PDA activists voted in the presidential straw poll. Full results here.

After Kucinich and Edwards, only one other candidate--Barak Obama (13%)-- made it into double digits. All the rest were in single digits: Hillary Clinton (9%), Bill Richardson (5%), Joe Biden (3%), Chris Dodd (1%), Mike Gravel (less than 1%). In contradiction to media reporting on the primary race, PDA's results parallel those of DFA, Daily KOS, the Texas Democratic Party and others whose polls show very weak support for Clinton.

PDA was founded largely by activists from the Kucinich '04 campaign (with support also from Dean activists). The Congressman's showing indicates that Progressive Democrats are still in sync with the Kucinich agenda: Out of Iraq; no attack on Iran, single-payer healthcare, fair trade, etc. Sen. Edward's showing suggests that his increasingly progressive message on poverty, trade and confronting corporate power has caught the attention of many PDA activists.

“The straw poll results are instructive,” said PDA National Director Tim Carpenter. “PDA has a proud history of working with Dennis Kucinich on his Congressional initiatives including the impeachment of Vice President Cheney-- we recently co-sponsored an impeachment town hall with him in New Hampshire. PDA activists have long backed Kucinich--while a growing number are taking an active interest in Edwards.”

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