The Absurd Report

GOP presidential candidate seen as best to handle a 3 a.m. crisis at the White House

UTICA, New York – The recent Hillary Clinton campaign advertisement asking who Americans want answering the phone in the White House when a crisis erupts at 3 a.m. has sparked a national debate about which candidate would best handle such a phone call. But while the ad was designed to boost the Clinton candidacy, likely voters nationwide say they would feel more secure having Republican John McCain answering the call of a crisis, a new Zogby International telephone poll shows.

Given the choice between Clinton and McCain, 55% preferred McCain while 37% would want Clinton to answer the phone, while 9% said they were unsure.

If there is a crisis in the world and the telephone rings at 3 a.m. in the White House, who would you feel more secure answering that phone – Hillary Clinton or John McCain?

Hillary Clinton…..37%

John McCain……55%

Not sure…………..9%

Between McCain and Obama, 56% favored McCain while 35% preferred Obama, with 10% saying they couldn’t make up their mind on the question.

The ad, which first ran in Texas in the days leading up to the March 4 primary election there, was designed to boost Clinton’s claim that she is more experienced than Obama, a familiar Clinton campaign theme this year. McCain is considered strong on national defense.

If there is a crisis in the world and the telephone rings at 3 a.m. in the White House, who would you feel more secure answering that phone – John McCain or Barack Obama?

John McCain………56%

Barack Obama……35%

Not sure……………10%

McCain, who calls himself a conservative, makes big inroads across ideological lines on the question, the survey shows, as 25% of the very liberal and 32% of mainline liberals prefer he answer the phone instead of Clinton, and 23% of the very liberal and 35% of mainline liberals prefer him over Obama. Just 15% of conservatives prefer Clinton take the call, and 16% of conservatives would rather have Obama taking a crisis phone call instead of McCain.

More from Zogby International….

Tags: National Security

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