September 6, 2007 - Clinton Opens Lead Over Giuliani As Dems Surge In Ohio

[Janett_Reno]

September 6, 2007 - Clinton Opens Lead Over Giuliani As Dems Surge In Ohio, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Little Unity Among Republicans

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1284.xml?...ea=;&strTime=0

Ohio, the key state in the 2004 presidential election, is turning blue in the 2008 campaign, with Democratic candidates winning 11 of 12 matchups with Republican contenders, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner has opened a 47 – 40 percent lead over her GOP counterpart, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, up from a 43 – 43 percent tie in an August 8 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.
In other possible 2008 presidential matchups:
• Clinton tops Arizona Sen. John McCain 46 – 41 percent;
• Clinton beats former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson 49 – 37 percent;
• Clinton bests former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 50 – 37 percent;
• Illinois Sen. Barack Obama gets 42 percent to Giuliani’s 41 percent, but gets 41 percent to McCain’s 42 percent;
• Obama tops Thompson 46 – 34 percent and beats Romney 46 – 32 percent;
• Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards beats Giuliani 47 – 38 percent; tops McCain
46 – 38 percent; tops Thompson 50 – 32 percent and bests Romney 50 – 30 percent.
In the primary contests, Clinton now holds a 44 – 15 percent lead over Obama among Democrats with John Edwards at 11 percent and former Vice President Al Gore at 8 percent.
The GOP race is more muddled with Giuliani still on top at 21 percent. Thompson has 15 percent, followed by McCain with 10 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 9 percent and Romney with 8 percent.
“Sen. Clinton seems to have little to worry about in the Democratic primary in Ohio, but former Mayor Giuliani’s lead is much smaller and much more tenuous,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling institute.

Quinnipiac University Poll/September 6, 2007—page 2
“Moreover, she is now for the first time seven points ahead of Giuliani, and even further ahead of any other Republican in Ohio,” Brown added.
“The only one of the dozen match ups between the leading candidates on both sides of the aisle in which a Republican came out ahead was Sen. McCain who held a statistically insignificant 42 – 41 percent lead over Sen. Obama.
“We have been seeing a gradual shift toward the Democrats in Ohio this year, but these numbers show that the tide has turned in this traditionally Republican-leaning state. Of course we have 14 months until the election, but at this point the Republicans are playing catch-up in a state they would be very hard pressed to win the White House without.”
Sen. Clinton’s current 29-point lead in the Democratic field represents a slight increase from the 25-point edge she held in August, the last time Quinnipiac University surveyed Ohio. Giuliani, on the other hand, has seen his numbers dwindle in the Buckeye state. In a March 7 Quinnipiac poll, he was getting 35 percent from Ohio Republicans.
Ohio voters give Giuliani a 48 – 30 percent favorability. Ratings for other candidates are:
• 51 – 43 percent favorable for Clinton;
• 44 – 28 percent favorable for McCain;
• 47 – 25 percent for Obama;
• 41 – 46 percent favorable for Gore;
• 54 – 26 percent favorable for Edwards;
• 58 percent don’t know enough about Thompson to form an opinion.
• 54 percent don’t know enough about Romney to form an opinion.
Bush Approval
Ohio voters disapprove 64 – 32 percent of the job President George W. Bush is doing, compared to a 66 – 29 percent disapproval, his lowest score in the state, July 12.
From August 28 – September 3, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,430 Ohio voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. The survey includes 497 Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points, and 528 Democrats with a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research.