St. Louis–A CNN/Time Magazine/Al-Jazeera poll of 1,098 ineligible voters finds that Illinois Democrat Barack Obama would be the next president of the United States were the election confined to non-voters. The ineligible groups polled included the mentally ill, children, and convicted felons.
Among high school students, Obama trounced second-place candidate Hillary Clinton 62 percent to 14 percent. The mentally ill, including schizophrenics and victims of head trauma, gave Barack a slight advantage over Democrat Dennis Kucinich 34 to 32 with Joe Biden of Maryland finishing a close third. North Carolina Senator and former Vice President candidate John Edwards polled best among convicts, edging out Obama 42-38.
The Clinton campaign put a positive spin on the seemingly disappointing results, explaining that Hillary’s criminal support comes from white-collar criminals crafty enough to avoid both conviction and extradition. “Proud criminals like Norman Hsu put their money where their warrant is,” said Clinton campaign chief Terry McAuliffe. “Frankly, Senator Clinton wouldn’t want the support of anyone stupid enough to get arrested, much less convicted.”
The poll was conducted by telephone and through a 3/4 inch plexiglass divider from August 28 through August 30. The poll has an error of margin of +/- 6.8 percent.