September 25, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - Almost
70 percent of New York voters say Sen. Hillary Clinton should not run for the
White House in 2004 - a sharp increase in the past few months, a poll released
yesterday found.
The Marist College survey showed that 69 percent of the state's voters are
against Clinton challenging President Bush - a 15-point jump since a Marist
poll in April, when 54 percent didn't want her to make a presidential bid.
Opposition to a Clinton presidential bid next year was strongest among
Republicans - 84 percent - while 57 percent of Democrats want her to stay in
the Senate.
"This suggests that a lot of New Yorkers don't think this is her time.
Right now, she needs to establish more credibility," said Marist poll director
Lee Miringoff.
He added that even voters who are supportive of the former first lady think
she isn't ready for a national campaign yet and would be backtracking on her
promise not to run next year.
"I think voters are saying, 'Ah, ha, - maybe she will get in,' and they
don't want her to get in," said Democratic consultant Ron Lester.
"It shows that Democratic voters in New York have become increasingly
comfortable with her as their senator. They feel that she still has quite a
bit to do there."
Another Democratic consultant explained the growing opposition to a Clinton
campaign:
"The more people hear about a potential Clinton run, the less they like the
idea, mostly because she made a commitment that she wasn't going to do it."
As for a presidential campaign some time after 2004, the poll revealed half
of all state voters say they'd like Clinton to take a shot at it, while 46
percent said she should not.
The poll also found a 67 percent majority believe Clinton when she says she
won't throw her hat into the ring next year, but 24 percent believe she'll
pull a switcheroo and become a candidate.
If she were running, Clinton would sit well atop the Democratic field,
drawing 46 percent of the party backing, compared to 14 percent or less for
Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) and others, the poll showed.
The poll of 912 registered voters was conducted from Sept. 15 through 18
and has an error margin of 3.5 percentage points.
At a meeting with journalists in Washington yesterday, Clinton insisted yet
again that she's not plotting a White House run in 2004.
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