Clinton leads Giuliani in New York battle

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff

In emphasizing electability, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani contends that if he is the Republican presidential nominee, he will make the party competitive in states that Democrats traditionally dominate.

But for the second poll in a row, Zogby International shows Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, the state's junior senator, leading Giuliani, the GOP's national poll leader, in a head-to-head matchup of New Yorkers, the voters who know them best.

The latest telephone survey of 705 likely voters on Oct. 30-31 showed Clinton ahead of Giuliani 44 percent to 38 percent, with nine percent undecided and nine percent supporting another candidate. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, according to a Zogby release. Two months earlier a Zogby poll in New York had Clinton leading by four percentage points.

Since then, the favorability ratings of both candidates has dipped, according to Zogby's findings.

By geographic region, in the latest poll, Clinton led Giuliani, 55 percent to 27 percent in New York City and by three percentage points in the city's suburbs. Giuliani led Clinton by 9 percentage points in upstate New York.

Almost all national polls show Clinton defeating Giuliani in a hypothetical contest.