Rasmussen Reports: Giuliani Ahead Of Clinton

Bear in mind that this is a poll, and means little right now, but this cannot make Madame Hillary too happy. Rasmussen hands out the bad news:

After being virtually tied with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for several months, Republican contender Rudy Giuliani now leads Clinton up 47% to 40% in the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

In the match-up of the frontrunners, this result marks a significant shift. For the last three months the two frontrunners have never been further apart than three percentage points. Last month, Giuliani and Clinton were separated by just a single point.

Senator Clinton fares modestly better against former Senator Fred Thompson. Clinton now has a three point edge over him, 46% to 43%. All four previous Clinton-Thomas have also been toss-ups.

Rasmussen Reports has recently released match-ups between Clinton and the leading GOP candidates in Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Oregon, and New Hampshire. Over the coming weeks, we will release data for other potential battleground states.

Democratic Senators John Edwards and Barack Obama have often done better than Clinton in match-ups with Giuliani. But recent polls show the former mayor improving against these adversaries as well.

The slide in Mayor Giuliani's favorable rating seems to have bottomed out for now. After hitting a low of 50% favorable for two weeks in a row, he's now viewed favorably by 52%. Thompson is viewed favorably by 43%, bringing him back up to where he was in late July.

In contrast, Clinton's favorable numbers have dropped a bit. She is now viewed favorably by 45%. That’s the first time all year her ratings have dipped below the 47% mark. Clinton's unfavorables have always been high and are currently at 52%.

This is not good for her right now. Not the fact that Rudy is edging her out, or her polling numbers. Her unfavorability ratings have been bad since she announced her intention to seek the presidency. We both concur that this comes from two basic things.

First, she has a lot of baggage, and she has not allowed enough time to pass for the memories to get shorter. Too many people remember the phoniness of her defending her husband, they remember her hand in the universal health care proposal, and her legal problem with the FBI files and the rose Law Firm records still hang over her.

Second, no offense, she is a woman. Do not jump to conclusions here because I am also a woman. But the overall sense we get from many Democrats is that she does not project leadership. The fact that she is a woman is something that sticks in many voter's heads. Woman simply do not project strength unless we are referring to Maggie Thatcher. Britain's "Iron Lady" simply gushed strength and leadership. Hillary lacks the basic necessities and concept.

Professor Glenn Reynolds adds more insight:

My guess is that she's dropped because of attacks from Barack Obama and John Edwards. But if those rather mild attacks make this much of a difference, how will she do in a real campaign?

Indeed, that is the $64,000 question, and one that apparently at this point lacks an answer.

Marcie