Post-ABC Poll: Clinton, Giuliani Lead Primary Fields

[Moloch]

On the day that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton officially entered the 2008 presidential sweepstakes, a new Washington Post-ABC News survey shows her with a wide lead over her potential Democratic rivals.

Clinton took 41 percent in a hypothetical primary field against 12 other Democrats, far ahead of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) at 17 percent, former Sen. John Edwards (N.C) at 11 percent and former Vice President Al Gore at 10 percent. The party's 2004 nominee -- Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) -- received 8 percent support. No other candidate crested three percent.

Those numbers are virtually unchanged from a Post-ABC survey in December that showed CLinton at 39 percent, Obama at 17 percent and Edwards at 12 percent.

"This poll confirms Hillary Clinton's early frontrunner status among likely contenders for the Democratic nomination," said Post polling director Jon Cohen. "It also indicates how little the intense media speculation and intrigue about Barack Obama's candidacy over the past month has increased his standing among Democrats nationally."

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/