New Ohio Poll Shows Clinton Leading Dems and Defeating GOP Front-Runner Giuliani

Submitted by Jeff on Wed, 10/10/2007 - 10:18am.

A new Ohio poll just out from Quinnipiac University pegs Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) at a 46%-40% advantage over former mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) in a head-to-head match up, basically unchanged from her 47%-40% advantage last month. Clinton has a favorability rating of 49% favorable/42% unfavorable, while the Republican front-runner is at 42%/33%. Clinton's rating has improved, but she has yet to break through the critical 50% mark. Her unfavorable number is very high, but because she is so well known it may have peaked.

In the primary contests, Clinton has a commanding lead at 47% while Sen. Barack Obama is at 19% and Sen. John Edwards is at 11%. Giuliani leads the Republicans by a slimmer margin at 29% while new-comer Fred Thompson is t 17%, Sen. John McCain is at 10%, and Mitt Romney is at 8%.

The poll also shows Clinton beating the other major GOP contenders, McCain (48%-38%), Thompson (50%-36%), and Romney (51%/34%). However, the other two top-tier Democratic candidates also lead their GOP counterparts, and overall Edwards performs the best:

* Obama tops Giuliani 44 - 38 percent, McCain 43 - 39 percent, Thompson 44 - 33 percent and Romney 47 - 31 percent;
* Edwards bests Giuliani 46 - 36 percent, McCain 46 - 35 percent, Thompson 48 - 31 percent and Romney 50 - 28 percent.

Favorability ratings for the other candidates are 45%/26% for Obama; 47%/26% for Edwards;40%/28% for McCain; 23%/19% for Thompson; and 19%/22% for Romney.

These results show Clinton maintaining her lead over Giuliani and consolidating her lead over her Democratic rivals. The GOP field is still very fluid, and of course these early polls are subject to big changes as lesser-known candidates get more name recognition and especially when the early caucuses and primaries occur.

I am encouraged to see Obama leading the GOP field, since earlier polling showed him trailing some of them. Also, I think it's important to note that Edwards performs a little better than Clinton against the Republicans.