New Ohio Poll Shows Clinton Increasing Lead Over Obama, Tied With Giuliani

A new Qunnipiac poll shows Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) tied with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) at 43% to 43%, marginally down from last month's result of 44% to 42% in favor of Clinton. The same poll shows Clinton ahead of Giuliani by tiny margins in Florida (46% to 44%) and Pennsylvania (45% to 44%). The pollster regards this overall showing as a small but important improvement for Clinton:

"Sen. Clinton is inching ahead. Not only does she lead by a nose in two of the most important swing states in the Electoral College, but she is turning around independent and Republican voters who previously viewed her negatively," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

In other Ohio findings, the poll shows Clinton with a 25 point lead over her nearest Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL):

41% Clinton
16% Obama
11% Edwards
8% Gore

Among the GOP candidates, Giuliani is maintaining a steady lead over Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN):

29% Giuliani
11% McCain
11% Thompson
8% Romney
8% Gingrich

In other general election head-to-head matchups, Giuliani leads Obama narrowly at 42% to 39% but Obama leads Thompson by a substantial margin at 44% to 32%. Clinton also has a big lead over Thompson at 47% to 36%.

Ohioans give Clinton a 49%/41% favorability rating, up from 47%/44% in June. That puts her above McCain but below Obama, Giuliani and Edwards in favorability marks. Here are the favorability ratings for the other leading contenders:

48%/29% Giuliani
44%/25% Obama
46%/29% Edwards
33%/35% McCain

More than half said they haven't heard enough about Thompson or Romney to form an opinion.