Giuliani slips; Hillary up 17 points

WASHINGTON — Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's lead over his Republican presidential rivals has narrowed considerably, while New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has maintained her advantage in the race for the Democratic nomination, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, whose candidacy has been buffeted by lackluster fund raising and his embrace of President Bush's troop surge policy in Iraq, runs a solid second in the GOP nominating contest. But there is fresh evidence in the new survey that his focus on the war and on attracting conservative support have made him more polarizing as a potential general election candidate.

Giuliani remained the front-runner in the national poll, but his support has eroded. In a late February Post-ABC News poll, 44 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents preferred Giuliani for the nomination, a figure now down to 33 percent. Support for McCain held steady at 21 percent.

Giuliani's support dipped in part because of the possible entry of former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson into the Republican race. Thompson ran third in this poll, with 9 percent, tying him with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has said he will decide this fall whether to become a candidate, ran fifth at 6 percent, down from 15 percent in February. No other Republican candidate received more than 2 percent in the current poll.

Among Democrats, Clinton led in the survey with 37 percent support to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's 20 percent. Former vice president Al Gore, who has said he has no plans to run, had the support of 17 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents; former North Carolina senator John Edwards stood at 14 percent. No other Democrat received more than 3 percent.

In late February, Clinton led with 36 percent to Obama's 24 percent. Over those two months, Obama has not been able to maintain the momentum he had shown in attracting black support. In the new poll, 43 percent of blacks preferred Clinton for the Democratic nomination while 34 percent preferred Obama.

Democrats remained far more satisfied with their field of candidates than did Republicans. Fully 80 percent of Democrats said they were either very or somewhat satisfied with their choices, compared to just 65 percent of Republicans. Republican unrest has only increased in the past two months, providing a push to Fred Thompson's possible candidacy.