Hillary Rodham Clinton

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With Al Gore now out of the race, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the top choice of Democrats for the 2004 presidential nomination if she chooses to run, according to a new CNN/Time magazine poll.

When registered Democrats were asked whom they would support in a field that included the New York senator and former first lady, 30 percent picked Clinton, compared with 13 percent each for Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

No other potential candidate broke out of single digits, while 14 percent said they were unsure.

The poll, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, was taken Tuesday and Wednesday, after Gore's surprise announcement last Sunday that he would not seek the presidency in 2004.

Clinton, elected to the Senate two years ago, has also said she will not be a candidate in 2004.

When poll respondents were asked whom they would support if Clinton does not run, Lieberman and Kerry were each named by 16 percent, followed by House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri at 10 percent, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota at 9 percent and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina at 8 percent.

No other potential candidate cleared more than 5 percent, and 24 percent of those polled said they were unsure who they would support in a field without Clinton.

However, among registered voters of all stripes, the poll showed both Kerry and Lieberman trailing President Bush by large margins.

In a head-to-head matchup between Bush and Lieberman, 55 percent of registered voters said they would support the president, with 39 percent supporting the Connecticut senator. In a race with Kerry, Bush would carry 56 percent, compared with 39 percent for the Democrat, the poll found.

A Bush-Clinton matchup was not part of the poll.

The margin of error for poll questions involving all registered voters, rather than just Democrats, was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Kerry has filed the paperwork to establish a presidential exploratory committee, the first step in a White House bid. Lieberman, who had said he would not run if Gore did, said this week that he is considering a bid and will decide by early next year.

Compared with Kerry, Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, was seen as more moderate by Democrats polled. About 55 percent said he was either moderate or conservative, compared with 47 percent who said the same about Kerry.

However, 40 percent of those polled were unsure whether Kerry was liberal, moderate or conservative, while just 28 percent said they were unsure about Lieberman's ideological disposition. And 17 percent characterized Lieberman as liberal, compared with 13 percent for Kerry.

At a news conference earlier this week, Gore said he had not decided whether to endorse a candidate in 2004, although he said he probably would.

The CNN/Time poll found that 31 percent of registered Democrats would be more likely to support a candidate endorsed by Gore, 12 percent less likely and 56 percent said it would make no difference.

My money would be on Hillary Clinton for our next prez, but not in 2004. She is doing things that will set herself up for a run at the office. She would have the support of women, elders, and minorities. Her run would be huge because she would be the first woman prez, there would be a high turnout of voters who are women and minorities, and it wold be the first husband/wife presidents. And why not? The Bilderbergs put Billy in office so I'm sure that Hillary is trained just as well. If she's not, they will come out with some dirt, like she was sleeping with Reno when Reno was AG.

[Edited on 22-12-2002 by Doomsday]

yep what was the web site that predicted her to be the next presedernt

I pray that Hillary will not win.

I'm with you Jedimaster, but as it has proven with the last election, if they want a certain someone to win, they will win. If she wins, it will start the AU (American Union) and then we will slowly watch as the country falls further into the depths of hell.

I hope that she will not elected ! It was already horrible when her husband was the President, so, I don't dare to imagine what would happen if she's the new President.

Doomsday, you have a nice avatar.

Thank you ultra_phoenix for you comment. It's funny because I was going to comment on how cool yours was, but I didn't want to be known as a a$$ kisser! (and I'm not saying you are, cos your bonafide!)

Maybe Hillary will get a girlfriend and decide to run off with her and we will never hear from her again. And maybe monkeys will fly out of my a$$! But you must have *HOPE*!

[Edited on 22-12-2002 by Doomsday]

Don't worry doosmday, nobody will call you an a.s.s kisser. We have the right to say that we like or don't like an avatar, a post or a topic.

Anyway, there is no a.s.s kisser on this board.

And our admins and mods are the best of the best. These wonderfull admins/mods are monitoring us for our good. I LUV U GUYS. May I kiss you somewhere ?