Overall, the survey shows how much the Democratic race has solidified -- particularly now with the near-certainty that Vice President Al Gore will not join the field. In the June Times/Bloomberg poll in which Clinton held an 11-percentage point lead over Obama, Gore won support from 15% of Democrats. The survey found that Clinton, with support from 48% of Democrats, and Obama, with 17%, were followed by Edwards with 13%, and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, with 2% each. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel drew less than 2% support. Some 15% did not make a selection.
As a leading actor in her husband's presidency, Clinton entered the race for the White House linked tightly to his legacy of personal scandal and political polarization. But today, the Times/Bloomberg poll found, nearly two-thirds of Democrats and nearly half of all voters say Hillary Clinton's famously unsuccessful effort in the 1990s to provide health coverage for all Americans makes her better able now to deal with healthcare as president. ... On healthcare, the poll findings suggest that Clinton has successfully turned one of her great failures as first lady into an advantage. Clinton often says she has the "bruises" to show from her hard-learned lessons on healthcare -- and 49% of voters say that her experience from the 1990s would help her reform healthcare as president. Only 19% say it would hurt her if she tried to tackle the issue again. "She's a person who learns from her mistakes," said poll respondent Gerard Aman, a retired government economist in McLean, Va.
Among all registered voters, the New York senator wins hypothetical head-to-head matchups against each of the four most high-profile Republican candidates. For example, Clinton tops Giuliani 47% to 41%, on the edge of the poll's margin of error. She beats the other GOP candidates by larger margins in the hypothetical contests.
Clinton's negative ratings have shifted significantly in recent months, other surveys show. The Gallup Poll, for example, reports that Clinton's unfavorable rating among all voters climbed to 52% in April from 40% in February, before falling this month to 44% -- the same rating as reported in the Times/Bloomberg poll.
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