ON THE TRAIL

April 29, 2008

Hillary Rodham Clinton does better than Barack Obama when matched against Republican John McCain, according to the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll. Clinton leads McCain 50 percent to 41 percent while Obama is ahead 46-44, within the margin of error, according to the poll taken after Clinton's Pennsylvania primary victory last week. But the matchups were closer in a Gallup poll released yesterday. Clinton leads McCain 47-44 while Obama runs even with him at 45 percent, the poll found.

Clinton criticized Obama yesterday for opposing a plan to suspend the federal gasoline tax during the summer, a plan both she and McCain have endorsed, The Associated Press reports. The idea to suspend the 18.4-cent federal gas tax and 24.4-cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day was first proposed by McCain. Obama does not support the "gas tax holiday" and has said the average motorist would not benefit significantly from such a suspension; by some estimates, the federal government would lose about $10 billion in revenue. "My opponent, Senator Obama, opposes giving consumers a break," Clinton said in North Carolina.