Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain hold commanding leads over other presidential candidates, according to the results of a recent poll of Arizona voters.
The poll, conducted from Jan. 17-20, revealed that roughly 20 percent of the registered voters in the state have yet to decide which candidate to support with only two weeks left until Arizona’s primary Feb. 5.
Forty-one percent of registered Republicans said they will support or are leaning toward McCain. Another 18 percent support or are leaning toward former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 9 percent support or are leaning toward former Sen. Fred Thompson, 7 percent support or are leaning toward former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani drew 4 percent of the responses and Congressman Ron Paul was mentioned by 2 percent. Nineteen percent remain undecided.
Thompson has since dropped out of the race.
As for Democrats, 45 percent support or are leaning toward Clinton, while 24 percent support or are leaning toward Sen. Barack Obama. Sen. John Edwards drew 9 percent of the responses and Congressman Dennis Kucinich another 1 percent. Twenty-one percent were undecided.
The Cronkite/Eight poll also asked people why they were supporting the candidate of their choice.
Republicans indicated they are planning to vote for McCain for six main reasons. First, they like his views and positions he takes on issues. Second, they feel he is an experienced and qualified candidate. Third, they respect his military service. Fourth, he is seen as a man who “says it like it is.” Fifth, he is seen as a person with a great deal of personal integrity. Sixth, he is seen as having conservative values.
“Sen. McCain’s successes in New Hampshire and South Carolina have solidified his support in Arizona and he now has a sizeable lead over his closest challenger, Mitt Romney,” said Bruce Merrill, who directed the poll.
Romney’s supporters like him mainly because he is seen as having genuine conservative values and issue positions. Second, voters like his business and management experience in the private sector. Third, he is seen as “the best of those running” and fourth, he is seen as a man of faith. Huckabee is almost a single dimension candidate, as the overwhelming reason people support him is because he is seen as a conservative Christian.
Reasons for supporting Clinton included: she is seen as an experienced and qualified candidate; voters like the positions she takes on a number of issues including health-care reform; voters said they liked Bill Clinton and they believe having access to the former president will strengthen Hillary Clinton’s presidency; she is seen as a strong and tough leader; and a number of supporters are voting for her because she is a woman and they feel the country needs a woman president.
Most of those supporting Obama believe he has a clear vision for America that involves change and unifying the country. He also is seen as a young, dynamic and intelligent person who people trust. Finally, a number of voters like his issue positions, especially his position on the war in Iraq.
Edwards attracts voters who believe he is simply the best candidate and the best candidate for the times we live in. He is also seen as the most electable candidate largely because of his experience in the United States Senate.
“Sen. Clinton has consistently led Barack Obama in Arizona and appears to be maintaining her lead over the Illinois senator. However, there are still two weeks to go before the primary and there is a fairly large undecided vote. In addition, polls cannot measure which candidate’s supporters will go to the polls and which will stay home on election day,” Merrill said.
The information in the poll was collected by telephone from two independent statewide samples of Republican and Democratic “high-efficacy” voters. High-efficacy voters have voted in at least three of the past six elections. The results were derived from interviews with 375 Republicans and 366 Democrats. 
The Republican sample has a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percent. The sampling error for the sample of Democrats is plus or minus 5.1 percent. The samples were stratified to be representative of each county in Arizona and each sample was weighted to have one-half of the respondents be women and one-half men.
The poll was conducted by KAET Eight TV and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.