Claiming in a November 9 op-ed that “Bush-hatred is” not “a winning 2008 strategy,” New York Post Washington bureau chief Deborah Orin-Eilbeck cited a poll conducted “by the Republican firm McLaughlin and Associates,” which “found Republicans [Sen.] John McCain [AZ] and [former New York City mayor] Rudy Giuliani both trouncing Democratic frontrunner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton [NY]” when either is matched up with Clinton in a general election for president in 2008.

But Orin-Eilbeck cited only the McLaughlin poll, which was conducted over just one day, and not a CNN poll, conducted from November 3-5, which found a one-point advantage for McCain over Clinton on the following question: “As of today, do you lean more toward: Clinton, the Democrat, or McCain, the Republican?” The same CNN poll also put Clinton against Giuliani and showed the two in a 47-47 tie, as noted by CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley on the November 8 edition of The Situation Room:

CROWLEY: Hillary Clinton is the political world's most reluctant bride. She hasn't set foot on the presidential trail, running from Iowa to New Hampshire, making her all the more appealing. The latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows Hillary in a dead heat with Republican front-runners John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

Other recent polls show a close race between Clinton and McCain in a potential 2008 presidential matchup. A Fox News poll conducted October 24-25 found that McCain had a 45-39 lead over Clinton but did not ask about Giuliani, and an October 13-15 CNN poll showed Clinton with a 51-44 lead over McCain when she is identified with her maiden name included, and McCain with a 48-47 lead when she is not. The same CNN poll showed Clinton with a 48-47 lead over Giuliani when Clinton's maiden name was included, and Clinton with a 50-46 lead when it was not.

From Orin-Eilbeck's November 9 op-ed:

Now the question is whether Democrats can finally kick their addiction to Bush-hatred.

[...]

And any Democrat who thinks Bush-hatred is a winning 2008 strategy might consider a new poll that found Republicans John McCain and Rudy Giuliani both trouncing Democratic frontrunner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In the poll (by the Republican firm McLaughlin and Associates), McCain beat her by a landslide 51 to 35 percent, Giuliani by 51 to 37.

And the less partisan-sounding Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is creeping up fast on Clinton - she leads him by just 29 percent to 22 percent among Democrats in a new poll by independent pollster Scott Rasmussen and 26 to 21 in the McLaughlin poll.