The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the Oregon Democratic Presidential Primary shows Barack Obama enjoying a twelve-point lead over Hillary Clinton. It’s Obama 51%, Clinton 39%.

Clinton has a statistically insignificant lead among senior citizens while Obama leads among younger voters. Obama does best among upper income voters while Clinton’s strongest support comes from those who earn less than $40,000 annually.

Obama is viewed favorably by 78% of the state’s Likely Primary Voters, Clinton by 71%. Fifty percent (50%) of Obama voters have a favorable opinion of Clinton while 56% of Clinton voters hold a positive view of Obama.

Eighty-two percent (82%) say that if Clinton is the nominee, they will vote for her over John McCain in the fall. An identical number, 82%, say they will vote for Obama over McCain.

Seventy-six percent (76%) say they have been closely following recent news stories about Barack Obama’s former Pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Just 16% have a favorable opinion of Wright while 56% have an unfavorable view. Fourteen percent (14%) agree with Wright’s views about the United States and 62% do not.

Forty-four percent (44%) believe that Obama was surprised by Wright’s comments at a press conference last Monday. Thirty-four percent (34%) disagree and say he was not surprised. Most Obama supporters say their candidate was surprised, most Clinton voters say he was not.

Thirty-four percent (34%) say it’s at least somewhat likely that Obama shares some of Wright’s controversial views.

Nationally, 56% of all voters believe Obama is likely to share some of those views.

In Oregon, 50% of Likely Democratic Primary Voters believe that Obama denounced Wright because he was outraged. Thirty-three percent (33%) say he did so because it was politically convenient.

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