Clinton bests Giuliani in cash and at polls

WASHINGTON - Rudy Giuliani says he's the only Republican who can stop Hillary Rodham Clinton, but it's Clinton who's getting the best of the ex-mayor this week - trouncing his fundraising totals and pulling ahead of Giuliani in a new poll.

Giuliani inched ahead of his rivals with the highest tally in the Republican money-hunt yesterday, bringing in $11 million in the past three months, compared to Mitt Romney's $10 million and Fred Thompson's $9.3 million. Romney also kicked in $8.5 million of his own fortune.

Clinton's $27 million third-quarter take announced this week - and even Barack Obama's $20 million total - is yet another sign of how Giuliani and other Republicans face a stiff headwind of voter dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush and Iraq that is helping Democrats.

"Right now, things look pretty good for the Democrats," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California. "The Democrats are revved up, and the Republicans are conflicted."

This week's total also created a sense that Clinton had solidified her position at the head of the Democratic contest, perhaps significantly, and undercut a key Obama strength - his fundraising prowess.

Also yesterday, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Clinton pulling ahead of Giuliani in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, beating him by 51 percent to 43 percent. A January matchup had the two nearly tied, with Clinton ahead 49-47.

The poll highlighted women voters' importance to Clinton's historic candidacy. Men split nearly evenly between Clinton and Giuliani but women overwhelmingly backed her, 57 percent to 39 percent.

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