New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) has a one-point edge over Arizona Senator John McCain (R) in the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of the race. In April, it’s Clinton 47% McCain 46%.

In March, McCain led Clinton 48% to 41%, but the candidates were just one point apart in February. In earlier polling, McCain enjoyed moderate leads over Clinton of four points or so.

An earlier release showed that Clinton also moved within one point of the Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of voters have a favorable opinion of Senator McCain while 39% have an unfavorable view. Those numbers are a bit stronger than Clinton’s ratings (48% favorable, 50% unfavorable).

A plurality of 41% view McCain as a moderate. A majority of 53% view Clinton as a liberal.

McCain, like all Republicans, is competing in a difficult environment for his party. Recently released data showed that the number of people who consider themselves Republicans has dropped sharply in recent months. In fact, there are nearly as many unaffiliated voters as Republicans in the country today.

The McCain campaign recently reported disappointing fundraising results for the first three months of the year: $12.5 million. Governor Mitt Romney, third-ranked in polls of Republican primary voters, collected $23 million for the quarter. Giuliani, the GOP frontrunner, raised $15 million.

Although pulling $12.5 million over a span of three months is "disappointing" mostly in relative terms, McCain had expected to enter the race as the frontrunner. And a truncated primary season next year means less opportunity to bolster finances in later months of the campaign. McCain's camp has said it will revamp fundraising operations.

The Clinton campaign was tops in overall fundraising but was startled by the strong performance of Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D). Clinton and Obama are leading polls for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

Rasmussen Reports continuously updates favorability ratings and general election match-ups for all Democratic and Republican candidates. We also maintain ratings for Members of Congress, Other Political Figures, and Journalists.

Rasmussen Reports releases updated polling data on the Republican nominating contest every Tuesday. Results for the Democrats are updated on Mondays.

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