Poll: McCain Far Ahead Of '08 Pack

A new poll suggests Sen. John McCain is far and away the leading contender for the White House in 2008. The Arizona Republican would rout the top Democrat, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, in a theoretical match-up, according to a Zogby America poll.

The two senators were well ahead of the competition for their parties' respective nominations, but McCain would trounce the former first lady, 54 percent to 35 percent, in a head-to-head contest.

McCain would also easily defeat former Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, 55 to 35 percent.

If a rematch of the 2004 election were held today, the poll finds voters would split evenly between Kerry and President Bush, whose approval rating fell to a new low, 44 percent, while just 39 percent approved of his handling of the Iraq war.

In an indication of how widespread McCain's support is, the Zogby poll found he was ahead of Clinton and Kerry in every geographic region of the country. He even led both Democrats by a comfortable margin in states Kerry carried in 2004.

McCain also leads with most demographic groups, though Clinton has a slim lead among Hispanics (45 percent to 38 percent) and a large lead among African Americans (80 percent to 19 percent).

McCain leads in every age group except voters under 30, where he and Clinton are tied.

The Zogby America poll questioned 1,000 likely voters between June 20 and 22, and has a margin of error of +/-3.2 points.