Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll finds a large number of Democrats plan to vote for John McCain should their favorite candidate fail to become the party's nominee. The poling data is encouraging for pro-life advocates concerned about Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the White House and appointing judges to keep abortion legal 35 more years.

A March 7-22 Gallup poll found 28 percent of Clinton supporters will vote for McCain if Obama is the nominee and 19 percent of Obama backers will support McCain if Clinton wins.

In notes accompanying the poll, Gallup said, "The data suggest that the continuing and sometimes fractious Democratic nomination fight could have a negative impact for the Democratic Party in next November's election."

Gallup called the number of voters considering defecting "not insignificant" but added that, by November, the eventual nominee will likely have spent considerable time rallying Democrats.

The poll also had some potential bad news for McCain.

It found 11 percent of Republicans said they would vote for the Democratic candidate or a third-party candidate next fall if McCain does not choose a vice president who is considerably more conservative than him.

Another 9 percent of Republicans said they just won't vote if McCain selects a pro-abortion running mate, for example.

The results show McCain is in control of his own destiny and that he can help himself to solidify the pro-life base of the Republican Party by selecting a pro-life running mate whose views against abortion mirror his own.