By IANS
Washington : Former US president Bill Clinton has emerged as a clear asset in his wife Hillary’s campaign for the White House with Americans offering high ratings to his eight years in office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
A solid majority said they would be comfortable with him as first spouse, but would not regard the election of Hillary Clinton as simply the resumption of her husband’s presidency, the poll published Thursday said.
Instead, two-thirds said she would take her presidency in a different direction, and half of all Americans said they believed that would be a good development. About half of those who said it would be a resumption, described that as positive.
The survey also showed Hillary Clinton with an early advantage in a match-up of the party front-runners. A majority of those polled support her over leading Republican contender, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani 51 percent to 43 percent.
When the Post-ABC News poll last tested the two against each other, in January, the race was a tossup, with Clinton at 49 percent and Giuliani at 47 percent.
A Clinton-Giuliani race could produce a big gender gap, the poll suggested. Men are now split about evenly between the two, but Clinton’s potentially groundbreaking candidacy draws heavy support among women, 57 percent to 39 percent.
Independents split their support: 48 percent for Clinton and 44 percent for Giuliani. But both have overwhelming support from members of their parties. Clinton, however, benefits from the fact that self-identified Democrats outnumber self-identified Republicans.
If Clinton is drawing on good feelings about her husband’s presidency, Giuliani’s candidacy is buoyed by memories of his performance after terrorists destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Centre Sep 11, 2001.
Almost nine in 10 Americans said Giuliani did an excellent or good job in the aftermath of the attacks, including 40 percent who gave him the highest mark.
A majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents rated his performance positively. Among those who give him an excellent mark, 64 percent said they support him, while 34 percent said they back Clinton.