Text size:

Senator sure, but president?

Poll shows Clinton beats both Senate opponents, but in race for seat in Oval Office she's even with Gore

BY GLENN THRUSH | Newsday Washington Bureau

June 8, 2006

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton would trounce both her possible GOP Senate foes by more than 30 points - but she's in a dead heat with Al Gore if New Yorkers were voting in a hypothetical presidential face-off, according to a new Newsday/NY1 statewide poll.

The poll of 1,463 registered voters by Blum & Weprin Associates conducted in the past week provides a mixed message for the senator: Voters in Clinton's adopted state love having her on the Senate payroll, but that support doesn't automatically translate to a national run in 2008.

Clinton beats Gore, 41 to 39 percent, technically a dead heat because it's within the poll's 3-percentage-point margin of error.

Gore, who has raised his profile by promoting his global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," won 60 percent of the state's 2000 presidential vote, but has said a 2008 run is a longshot.

"It's an indication she has a lot more to do if she wants to be elected president," said Manhattan-based Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who is supporting Clinton's re-election bid. "As for Gore, there will always be residual sympathy for him in a state where many people think he was elected president, and believe it was taken from him."

Gore did especially well among Jews, whom he first courted as a presidential contender in 1988. He beat Clinton, 54 to 34 percent, among that group.

Clinton won the Democratic vote 48 to 38. But Gore scored with independents and Republicans, winning slim majorities in both groups.

"I would have said Hillary a couple of months ago, but I'd support Gore now after hearing her say we would consider invading Iran," said independent Robert De Gregorio, 54, of Fort Salonga. "I was very turned off by that."

Peter Cuthbert, 76, didn't start off a fan of the former first lady, but he has been impressed by her move to the center and her intelligence.

"I don't think Al invented the Internet," said Cuthbert, a retired history teacher from East Moriches. "He's a big nothing - she's a doer. And she's becoming more moderate as the election comes closer."

Nikki Thaw, 47, a real estate agent from Brightwaters, picked Gore but said she was tired of having to pick between recycled candidates.

"I really think we've got to find a new pool of talent," she said. "We keep going through the same people. Aren't there any new people to choose from?"

The picture brightened for Clinton when voters were quizzed about her upcoming re-election campaign. She leads GOP contender KT McFarland, 60 to 26 percent, and bests Republican John Spencer, 59 to 28 percent.

McFarland and Spencer are running neck-and-neck in the primary at around 20 percent, with a whopping 45 percent undecided.

FIRST FAMILY?

In a hypothetical face-off with Al and Tipper Gore, Hillary and Bill Clinton would be state voters' favorites for president and first spouse, respectively, according to a Newsday / NY1 poll. The telephone poll of 1,463 registered voters was taken June 1 to 5. Margin of error was +/- 3 percentage points.

41% Hillary Clinton for president

55% Bill Clinton for first spouse

29% Tipper Gore for first spouse

39% Al Gore for president