Zogby: Clinton Builds Sturdy Lead; Thompson & Giuliani Battle for Top GOP Spot
Wednesday, July 18 2007 @ 01:13 PM EDT
Edited by: Michael Hess

Zogby International's nationwide telephone survey shows Clinton takes a chunk of Obama's liberal base; Thompson's strength in the Heartland gives a boost

BBSNews 2007-07-18 -- (Zogby) The candidate who seems to have been running forever and the one who has yet to enter the race are leading their respective nomination contests in a national preference poll by Zogby International.

The survey shows New York Sen. Hillary Clinton with a 37% to 25% lead over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards is a distant third at 12%, while New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson leads the also-rans with 4%. Clinton's edge over Obama has shrunk slightly since late May - she has lost two points and Obama has gained 1% since that last Zogby poll of the race.

Eighteen percent of Democrats remain undecided, the same as in late May.

On the Republican side, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, as yet a non-candidate, has climbed to the top of the GOP leaderboard, winning 22% support, compared to 21% for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney remains in third place with 11%. Arizona Sen. John McCain continues his dramatic slide, from second place in late May to fourth place now, supported by 9% of likely Republican voters nationwide.

One in four Republican voters are undecided, about the same as late May.

The latest Zogby International telephone survey was conducted July 12-14, 2007, and included 396 likely voting Democrats. It carries a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percentage points. The Republican segment included 364 likely voters and carries a margin of error of +/- 5.2 percentage points.

Hillary Wins Liberal Support

The survey shows Clinton has picked up steam, especially among younger Democratic voters. She wins 59% support among those aged 18-29, up 10% since late May. Meanwhile, Edwards has lost significant ground in the same demographic. In fact, lower tier candidate Dennis Kucinich, at 6% among those under age 30, has more support than Edwards in that group.

Clinton has also maintained her base of support among moderates, while expanding her support among progressives to 36%, up from 31% two months ago. Her backing among progressives appears to come out of Obama's liberal base, as he has slipped from 35% to 27% in that group.

Thompson Winning Hearts in the Heartland

Republican Fred Thompson has built his tiny lead on strength of support in the South, from which he hails, and the Midwest. Rudy shines in the east, and Romney and Rudy are tied for tops in the West. McCain manages to eke out a third-place showing in the South, but is otherwise badly weakened following a bloody legislative loss over immigration reform and a spate of bad news about his campaign fund-raising woes and loss of staff. News reports have his campaign contracting to three key states - Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Thompson's strongest appeal comes from those who consider themselves to be "very conservative," as 35% in that group said they favored the former Tennessee Senator-turned-actor. Giuliani finished a distant third in that group, followed by Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. McCain finishes fifth among very conservative voters.

Among mainline conservatives - the largest subgroup of GOP voters - Giuliani wins 21%, compared to 20% for Thompson, 13% for Romney, and 12% for McCain.

However, those who support Giuliani and Thompson are also those Republicans who said they are most likely to change their minds before they vote in their state primary or caucus.

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