Poll: Dems favor Clinton over Obama
WASHINGTON -- New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has significantly widened her lead over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in the wake of a dispute over handling foreign policy, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.
The survey, taken Friday through Sunday, puts Clinton at 48% — up 8 percentage points from three weeks ago — and Obama at 26%, down 2 points. Among Democrats and independents who "lean" Democratic, former North Carolina senator John Edwards is at 12%.
The 22-point gap between the two leaders is nearly double the margin found in the July 12-15 poll.
"People are seeing her as the one ready to be president," says Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, a perception he says was "accelerated" by the recent debate.
Bill Burton, Obama's spokesman, dismisses the findings. "National polls may go up and down before people actually start voting, but their irrelevance will not," he says.
Among Republicans, the race was stable: Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani at 33%, former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson at 21%, Arizona Sen. John McCain at 16% and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney at 8%.
The Democratic race is much closer in the states where opening contests will be held and campaigning already is fierce. Clinton and Edwards are essentially tied in Iowa, according to the three most recent statewide polls aggregated by the political website RealClearPolitics.com. She holds a small lead over Obama in New Hampshire.
"She's a known quantity, and she does have significant strengths," says Democratic strategist Anita Dunn, who isn't affiliated with a campaign. "But where he has started to fill in some of the blanks, he's very competitive."
Still, the new poll seems to reflect some success by Clinton in portraying her chief rival as inexperienced and naive on foreign policy. In a debate sponsored by CNN and YouTube two weeks ago, Obama said he would meet as president with such rogue leaders as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.
