WASHINGTON – Democrats have an overwhelmingly favorable view of Sen. Hillary Clinton, but she would be soundly beaten if she ran for president against Republican Sen. John McCain, a new Los Angeles Times/ Bloomberg poll has found.
Underscoring the New York lawmaker’s potential vulnerability, the poll also found that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican little known to most voters, would give Clinton a run for her money.
Given a choice between McCain and Clinton, half of those surveyed said they would vote for the Arizonan, compared with 36 percent for the former first lady. In a matchup with Romney, Clinton would win by just six percentage points, 42 percent to 36 percent.
Those findings lend credence to some Democrats’ fear that despite Clinton’s clear strength within the party, she would prove too polarizing a figure to win the White House.
The poll reinforces the view that McCain, although mistrusted by some in the GOP and expected to face a spirited fight if he seeks his party’s nomination, would be a strong general election candidate because of his appeal to independent voters. Half the independents surveyed said they would back McCain; 32 percent supported Clinton, with the rest undecided or naming someone else.
Still, the survey spotlighted obstacles to McCain emerging as the GOP standard-bearer. A significant segment of Republicans who characterize themselves as conservatives – the base of the party – have an unfavorable opinion of him.
In contrast, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani received highly favorable marks across the party’s ideological spectrum. So far, Giuliani has not taken as many steps toward a presidential candidacy as McCain and Romney, and the poll did not measure how he would perform in a matchup with Clinton.
Other poll results highlighted the anti-GOP mood that helped Democrats win control of the next Congress in November’s midterm election: Among registered voters, 49 percent said they would like to see a Democrat win the White House in 2008, while 41 percent preferred a Republican.
The potential Democratic candidate viewed most negatively is Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., the party’s 2004 presidential nominee.
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