More Democrats favor Clinton over Obama, poll finds [View All]

[Omaha Steve]

Source: USA Today

By Susan Page, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has significantly widened her lead over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in the wake of a dispute over handling foreign policy, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

The survey, taken Friday through Sunday, puts Clinton at 48% — up 8 percentage points from three weeks ago — and Obama at 26%, down 2 points. Among Democrats and independents who "lean" Democratic, former North Carolina senator John Edwards is at 12%.

The 22-point gap between the two leaders is nearly double the margin found in the July 12-15 poll.

"People are seeing her as the one ready to be president," says Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, a perception he says was "accelerated" by the recent debate.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-08-06-poll_N.htm