Arizona Senator John McCain has fallen nearly out of the top tier in the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination, but he’s still competitive in a general election match-up with Senator Hillary Clinton. The latest Rasmussen Reports survey shows Clinton with just a single point edge over McCain, 44% to 43%.

McCain also trailed Clinton by just one percentage point in September and by two points in August. Those consistent results put McCain in a more competitive position at this time than any other Republican hopeful.

The new survey shows Clinton with a 47% to 41% lead over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Clinton has led Romney every time we’ve polled this match-up. In September, she had a nine-point advantage.

Clinton currently leads former NYC mayor and Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani by seven and former Senator Fred Thompson by 15. Her lead has been growing steadily over these two in recent months.

Senator McCain is perceived as politically conservative 32% of all voters, moderate by 43%, liberal by 8%. Romney is seen as conservative by 37%, moderate by 36% and liberal by 8%.

Among Republicans, Thompson is seen as the most politically conservative candidate.

Among Democrats, Obama is perceived as the most liberal. Clinton is perceived as conservative by 8%, moderate by 34%, and liberal by 51%.

As voters have begun paying more attention, negatives have been rising for all leading Presidential candidates. Five of the top seven contenders now have more than 40% of all voters committed to voting against them. The other two, McCain and Thompson, have 39% of voters in their core opposition.

Hillary Clinton is now viewed favorably by 54%, John McCain by 45% and Mitt Romney by 41%.

Crosstabs and Historical Data available for Premium Members only.