A year from Election Day, Clinton remains person to beat

CNN: A year from Election Day, Clinton remains person to beat


Sen. Hillary Clinton walks with former Vice President Walter Mondale Sunday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With the election of the next president a year away, Sen. Hillary Clinton remains the person to beat, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday suggests. As the countdown begins to November 4, 2008, the New York Democrat continues to dominate the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, and comes out ahead when voters are asked whether they prefer her or the GOP front-runner, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

But Clinton's path to the White House is in no way certain. Clinton was criticized for her performance during a debate last week, and her rivals for the Democratic nomination have stepped up attacks that she has equivocated on her position on Iraq, Iran and other major issues. The Republican presidential candidates have also stepped up their attacks on the Democratic front-runner, with each suggesting that he has the best chance of stopping Clinton.

The attacks may be working. The CNN/Opinion Research polls suggests that Clinton's support has slipped from its height one month ago. "Clinton's strength is about where it was throughout the summer, indicating that she has lost the support she gained last month but that Obama has not yet cut into her core constituency," CNN political director Keating Holland said.

Clinton is the top choice of 44 percent of the likely Democratic voters interviewed for the poll. Her closest rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, was the top choice of 25 percent, and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina has 14 percent. All other Democratic candidates were in single digits....

In an October CNN/Opinion Research poll, Clinton was supported by 51 percent of Democratic voters and had a 30 point lead over Obama....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/05/poll.presidential.08/index.html

favor her for the presidency.

I don't.

The front-loaded, me-first primary calendar could work to her advantage or swiftly eliminate her as a frontrunner. Things feel volatile under the veneer or "invincibility" or "electability" arguments.

The independents are restless and the undecideds are many.

Let's let the voters decide.