Election 2008: Giuliani 52% Clinton 43%

[Ron Burgundy]

Rasmussen Reports -
In a match-up between the early 2008 frontrunners, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) leads New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) 52% to 43%. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Giuliani's lead growing in recent months. His current nine-point advantage is up from a six point lead in January and a four-point lead in December.

Giuliani has solidified his title as the most popular candidate of Election 2008--his favorability ratings have inched back up to 70% (see summary for all Republican candidates).

Clinton is viewed favorably by 50% and unfavorably by 48%. The last four times that Rasmussen Reports has polled on a Giuliani-Clinton race, Clinton's support has remained unchanged at 43%.

While both candidates draw reasonable levels of support from within their own party, Giuliani has an enormous 64% to 27% advantage over Clinton among unaffiliated voters.

Clinton leads all Democratic Party hopefuls seeking their party's nomination trailed by Illinois Senator Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards. However, Edwards and Obama tend to do better in match-ups against Republican prospects. In the latest survey, while Clinton trails Giuliani by nine percentage points, Edwards trails only by two points, 46% to 44%. An earlier survey found Obama trailing Giuliani by six points.

Giuliani, to the surprise of many, has consistently led all Republicans seeking their party's nomination. Senator John McCain (news, bio, voting record) (R), the man thought by many to be the frontrunner when the season began, has trailed Giuliani in recent polls by double digits. McCain now leads Clinton by five percentage points, 47% to 42%. That is similar to the lead he enjoyed in December. Our January poll found McCain and Clinton tied.

A just completed poll found McCain leading former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack by 22 percentage points. Vilsack has since dropped out of the Presidential race.

This national telephone survey of 800 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 21-22, 2007. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20070223/pl_rasmussen/giulianiclinton20070223 [link]