ALBANY – A Republican presidential ticket of John McCain and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would beat a Democratic ticket of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama – in either combination – in heavily “blue” New York, a surprising poll showed yesterday.
The Marist College-WNBC survey found a McCain-Rice team ahead of a Clinton-Obama ticket, 49 percent to 46 percent, and an Obama-Clinton ticket, 49 percent to 44 percent.
Without including a hypothetical running mate, the poll found McCain ahead of Obama, 48 percent to 46 percent, but trailed New Yorker Clinton, 48 percent to 46 percent.
“It is quite shocking and it really speaks to how much the Democratic primary battle is spilling over to the electorate,” said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff.
“It doesn’t mean the Republicans are going to carry New York in November, but it does mean the Democrats are being hurt right now and would be well advised to bring down the curtain on their battle as soon as possible,” Miringoff continued.