So much for Gallups's last poll. Gallup: Clinton 39% Obama 26%

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has regained a double-digit lead over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll two weeks after the survey found the Democratic presidential rivals essentially tied.

The Democratic contest generally has been stable, though a USA TODAY Poll taken June 1-3 had shown Obama 1 percentage point ahead of Clinton, 30%-29%. In the new survey, Clinton leads Obama 33%-21% if former vice president Al Gore — who has neither entered the race nor ruled it out — is included among the candidates.

She leads by 39%-26% if Gore isn't included. Former North Carolina senator John Edwards is then third at 13%.

The new poll includes 334 Democrats and 182 independents who lean Democratic. Penn says including independents contributes to a survey's volatility because those voters are less committed to a candidate as well as less likely to vote in party primaries.

Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll, said the previous poll "either picked up a short-term change or … was a function of unusual sampling, which happened to pick up Democrats who were more pro-Obama than the underlying population."

The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll and the Quinnipiac poll last week reported findings similar to the new Gallup survey. Both showed Clinton with a 14-point lead and Thompson tied with or ahead of McCain.

The USA TODAY Poll, taken last Monday through Thursday, has a margin of error of +/—5 percentage points among the subsample of 516 Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-06-17-clinton-poll_N.htm

obama does better among independents and among the entire population.

Has it occurred to us that perhaps this is what a campaign is for? Obama's job is to extend his following among Dems. It's...er....a campaign!

Hillary's job is more difficult, however. She needs to extend her strength among the entire population, so that she might actually win this thing if she gets the nomination.

Both have a lot of work to do.

But that is what....campaigns....are for.