The Hiller Instinct: 7NEWS/Suffolk presidential candidates poll
It may not be too soon for Democrats to start calling New Hampshire Hillary Clinton Country, and what's making her so strong is an age gap:
Our exclusive 7NEWS/Suffolk University poll shows Clinton trouncing Barack Obama among voters 56 and older by 47 percent to 15 percent.
But among young voters aged 18 to 45, Obama narrowly winning 26 percent to 25 percent.
The only Democrat who still might be able to beat Hillary is Al Gore, who's not even in the race.
"There's no doubt about the power of Al Gore," David Paleologos, a Suffolk University Pollster, said. "When we put him in the ballot test, he melted the entire Democratic field, even beat Hillary Clinton: 32 percent Gore, 26 percent Clinton."
If the Democrats are cruising, the Republicans are bruising.
Mitt Romney has jumped from third to first since our last poll of Republican primary voters, but he's still vulnerable.
According to our poll, while 36 percent have a favorable opinion of Romney, many more -- 44 percent --have an unfavorable opinion.
"Statewide, his support is soft," said Paleologos. "He's got a high negative. But, more importantly, within the Republican Party, his base now is younger voters and, traditionally, younger voters are the least likely to vote in an election."
Rudy Giuliani has tumbled to second in our poll, but he could bounce back, since our survey suggests he can win, despite his his pro-choice and pro-gay rights positions.
Asked when a president's religion should affect policy making, 71 percent said, never, less than 30 percent all or some of the time.
Fred Thompson isn't officially in the race, but he's in it unofficially enough to get put in our poll where we found less than half don't know enough about him to have an opinion or have never heard of him, despite "Law and Order."
Two races, two images: one blurry, one crystal clear.
Seven months before New Hampshire votes, the Democratic Primary is Hillary Clinton's to lose while the Republican race is too cloudy to call.
And that's very close to the presidential picture nationwide.
We surveyed 500 likely New Hampshire voters, and this is how the field shapes up:
Among Democrats:
Clinton -- 37 percent
Obama -- 19 percent
Edwards -- 9 percent
Richardson -- 9 percent
undecided -- 16 percent
For Republicans:
Romney -- 26 percent
Giuliani -- 22 percent
McCain -- 13 percent
Thompson -- 13 percent
undecided -- 17 percent
(margin of error: +/-4)
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