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Hillary's star rising: poll

Oliver Burkeman

Hillary Rodham Clinton

New York: Hillary Clinton is finally gaining a toehold with American voters, according to a new poll that puts her almost at level pegging for the presidency with the current Republican favourite, John McCain.

Months of polls have suggested the New York Senator would lose the 2008 White House race badly if she won the Democratic nomination. But Time magazine's survey puts her just two percentage points below Mr. McCain, with 47 per cent to his 49 per cent — within the poll's margin of error.

Mr. McCain would trounce two other potential Democratic candidates, John Kerry and Al Gore. A poll in June said that 47 per cent would never vote for Ms. Clinton, who has been accused of projecting a cold persona, and who is a symbol of the cultural divisions over her husband's presidency.

The latest poll will help counteract the pessimistic conventional wisdom emerging among Democrats, which is that Ms. Clinton might be unbeatable at the nomination stage but unelectable at the national level. More than half of those questioned said they had a positive view of her.

The former first lady insists she has not decided whether to run, and aides claim she is focused on fighting her Senate re-election bid in November, which she will almost certainly win, leaving plenty of money in her $33m war chest.

Assuming she runs, Democratic strategists are torn over how actively Bill Clinton should campaign for her, Time reports. He is so charismatic, one strategist said, that it ``makes it harder to see the gifts that she has that he doesn't'', such as ``much less insecurity''. He is also a reminder of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The poll also shows that Rudy Giuliani, the former New York Mayor, has higher national ratings: 64 per cent to Mr. McCain's 56 per cent. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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