Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would beat Republican Rudolph Giuliani in the race for the U.S. presidency if the election was held now, AP quoted a poll data released Thursday. Clinton, currently the frontrunner for her party's nomination, would top Giuliani by a 51-43 percent margin if the election were held today, a Washington Post-ABC News poll said. The poll also showed Democratic voters favoring Clinton over Giuliani by 88-9 percent and independents in favor of Clinton by 48-44 percent. Republican voters preferred Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, 88-10 percent. The poll also showed that two-thirds of voters believe Clinton would take the country in a different direction compared with her husband, Bill Clinton, during his 1993-2001 presidency. Most said that would be “a good thing.” Another Washington Post-ABC News poll released Wednesday showed Clinton was the solid favorite for the Democrat nomination in the November 2008 election. She held a 33 point lead over her closest rival, fellow Senator Barack Obama (Illinois). Giuliani is the Republican frontrunner according to most polls, but he does not command a lead similar to Clinton over rivals Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and Fred Thompson.
