WaPo-ABC Poll Shows Clinton, Guiliani with Solid Leads

By Rick Moran

The new Washington Post-ABC poll out today shows Senator Hillary Clinton increasing her lead among Democratic primary voters:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has consolidated her place as the front-runner in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, outpacing her main rivals in fundraising in the most recent quarter and widening her lead in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

For the first time, Clinton (N.Y.) is drawing support from a majority of Democrats -- and has opened up a lead of 33 percentage points over Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). Her popularity, the poll suggests, is being driven by her strength on key issues and a growing perception among voters that she would best represent change.

Obama appears dead in the water at the moment, despite the fact that he raised $20 million during the last quarter. Whether he can turn that around in Iowa where he is still very competitive with Clinton remains to be seen. The rest of the Democratic field has Edwards far behind at 13% and the other candidates in single digits.

On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani still leads but his support among GOP primary voters is very soft:

Rudolph W. Giuliani leads the race for the GOP presidential nomination, with Republican voters describing him as the field's strongest leader and most electable candidate in the 2008 general election, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

But the Republican contest remains unsettled just three months before the first votes will be cast, and in comparison with fellow New York politician Hillary Rodham Clinton, Giuliani is a far less solid front-runner. He has double the support of his nearest rival, but a majority of those who support him do so only "somewhat." At the same time, his advantages on key attributes are smaller today than they were earlier in the campaign, reflecting continued uncertainty among Republicans about their choices in the presidential race.

Fred Thompson slipped from 19% in last month's poll to 17% this month. John McCain garnered 12% while Mitt Romney stands at 11% in the new poll. While Hillary Clinton is looking more and more inevitable as the Democratic nominee, the GOP race still appears wide open. A majority of those supporting the former New York mayor do so only "somewhat."

That kind of lack of enthusiasm may be a sign that Republicans still haven't made up their minds about Giuliani and an opening may be there for another candidate to win the hearts of GOP primary voters.