New Yorkers would choose Hillary over Giuliani in 2008: poll

[Ron Burgundy]

AFP - Of the two, only Republican Giuliani, 62, has set up a committee to explore a possible run in the 2008 presidential election. Speculation is rampant, however, that Clinton will run as well after she was reelected the US Senate from New York on November 7.



NEW YORK (AFP) - By a 67-47 percent margin, New Yorkers think senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton would do a better job as US president than their former mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Quinnipiac University poll found.

Of the two, only Republican Giuliani, 62, has set up a committee to explore a possible run in the 2008 presidential election. Speculation is rampant, however, that Clinton will run as well after she was reelected the US Senate from New York on November 7.

In the poll, 33 percent of New Yorkers said Giuliani would make "a bad president" and 24 percent, "a so-so president," while 14 and 27 percent, respectively, believe he would make a "great" or "good" president.

The wife of former president Bill Clinton, on the other hand, was favored as a "great" or "good" president-to-be by 28 and 36 percent, respectively. Thirteen percent felt she would be a "bad" president and 17 percent, "so-so."

Meanwhile, current New York Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg, 64, had 72 percent support among survey takers who thought he was doing a good job. Fifty-eight percent believe he will not seek the 2008 presidential nomination, and only 35 percent said they would vote for him if he did.

"New Yorkers are a tough crowd," said Quinnipiac Institute Director Maurice Carroll.

"Mayor Bloomberg, (New York) Governor George Pataki and former mayor Rudy Giuliani all fail to hit the 50 percent mark as potentially 'good' presidents, let alone 'great,'" she added.

"The one New York star who a lot of politicians think really might run - Senator Hillary Clinton - scores the highest."

In the poll, 1,314 New York voters were consulted November 8-12. The margin of error was, plus or minus, 2.7 percent.