There’s little change this week in the Democratic nomination contest. Senator Hillary Clinton (D) continues to lead with 28% of the vote from Likely Democratic Primary Voters nationwide. The latest Rasmussen Reports Election 2008 poll shows Senator Barack Obama (D) still in second place with 24% of the vote. Former Senator John Edwards (D) has support from 11% and former Vice President Al Gore (D) weighs in at 10%.

While Gore still attracts more support than many who are actively seeking the nomination, the Democrats’ Election 2000 nominee indicated again last week that he has no intention of running for office at this time. Therefore, unless something changes, Rasmussen Reports will no longer include the former Vice President in our ongoing tracking of this race.

Edwards is viewed favorably by 53% of American voters at this time. Clinton, Gore, and Obama are each viewed favorably by 50%.

Obama and Edwards draw the smallest unfavorable totals—34% for Obama and 38% for Edwards. Clinton and Gore, both in the national spotlight for a much longer period of time, have higher unfavorables—48% for Clinton and 47% for Gore.

A plurality of voters see all four leading Democrats as politically liberal. Forty-two percent (42%) see both Edwards and Obama as politically liberal. Fifty percent (50%) hold that opinion of Gore and 52% say that Clinton is politically liberal.

Clinton and Gore both hold a solid lead over Newt Gingrich (R) in general election polling. Clinton trails former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), is even with Arizona Senator John McCain (R), and leads all other Republicans. The same is true for both Edwards and Obama—they trail Giuliani, are even with McCain,and lead other Republicans.

Despite the fact that the frontrunners in the Democratic Party are a woman and an African-American, 60% of voters believe that the Democrats will end up nominating a white male as their Presidential candidate in 2008. Eight-out-of-ten Americans say they are willing to vote for a woman Presidential candidate and a similar percentage say the same about an African-American candidate. However, in each case, just over 50% believe their peers are likely to do the same. There is a significant difference of opinion on these questions by age. Just a third of senior citizens believe their peers would vote for a woman or an African-American.
An update on Republican Primary polling will be released tomorrow. Last week, Giuliani and McCain were the clear frontrunners.