The Big Question: How Much Do You Have to Agree with a Candidate's Stands?

Ever since activists and leading politicians on the right shook up the congressional race in upstate New York by endorsing the Conservative Party candidate over the Republican, there has been much discussion in GOP circles about whether it is better to win with a moderate or make sure that the party's candidate holds true to particular policies and principles.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Nov. 13-15 reveals a different outlook on this choice between Democrats and Republicans.

Fifty-eight percent of Democrats say they would rather nominate a candidate who has a good chance of beating a Republican even if they don't agree with him or her on some major issues than choose someone with a poor chance of winning. Thirty-eight percent disagree and 4 percent have no opinion.

On the GOP side, 51 percent said they preferred a candidate who agreed with them on the issues while 43 percent favored someone who could beat the Democrat. Seven percent were undecided.