Hillary crushes Barack in New York City

[TiCam]

Even among blacks, News poll shows, she would win

If Sen. Hillary Clinton faced off with Sen. Barack Obama in New York City today, she would trounce him, says a Daily News poll released today.

The survey shows that among city voters, 43% would choose Clinton and 24% would pick Obama. The other 33% said they were undecided or wanted another candidate altogether.

Clinton did even better among registered Democrats, beating Obama, 49% to 23%.

The survey points out a significant strength for Clinton: She bests the Illinois senator, who is black, in a liberal bastion with a heavy concentration of minority voters.

But it also shows Clinton is vulnerable in a presidential contest, failing to get more than 50% of the vote in the heartland of her support. Her margin over Obama pales in comparison to her landslide reelection numbers last November.

"Certainly, it's conclusive. It's a very clear win," said pollster Mickey Blum of Blum & Weprin Associates, which surveyed 501 registered voters in a Clinton-Obama showdown for The News. "But considering that she's the senator of New York, and [Obama's] nowhere near as well-known, he does okay. It's a pretty respectable number to be getting."

The good news for Clinton is she beats the surging Obama in key demographic groups, including women, Latinos and even blacks.

Blacks said they preferred Clinton, 49% to 21%, despite Obama's status as the first African-American considered to have a serious shot at a presidential nomination.

The racial margin was even more dramatic when voters were asked which candidate would be more likely to win in a general election: 75% of black voters said Clinton had a better chance of winning, compared with the paltry 11% who thought Obama could succeed.

"Both [Bill and Hillary] Clinton have always had enormous appeal to the black and Latino community," Blum said. "Even here, against a black candidate, black voters prefer her."

Reginald Jones, a 57-year-old African-American from Brooklyn, said he'd love to see a black President, and called Obama "a fresh kind of breeze in the political scene."

"But nine times out of 10, I would probably go for Hillary because she does have the experience," Jones said. "Experience is the big thing here. I think she has that. He doesn't."

Obama, a former Illinois state legislator, has been a U.S. senator for two years.

The survey found Clinton's biggest weakness is among men, where she squeaked by Obama with a mere 34%-to-32% margin.

"I would wish Hill-ary all the luck in the world, and as a resident of the state, I think she's done a wonderful job in the Senate - but I don't know if the country is going to vote for a woman President," said Dennis Barton, 45, of Manhattan, who selected Obama in the poll.

"It would be great if she could run and win, but I don't want to [increase] the chances of us falling back into a Republican-run [situation]," he said.

Not surprisingly, Clinton dominated among female voters.

"She's a woman, and I think the women need to get the world going. .. I don't think the men are doing a good job," said Lavell Luckey, 37, of the Bronx. "I just think that all that Hillary has been through and she still has her head up high, that really stands out for me - her being in the White House, the things her husband put her through."

City voters said Iraq is the top issue for the 2008 presidential race, and 45% said Clinton would do the best job solving the crisis, while 19% said Obama would do better. An additional 29% weren't sure.

Despite failing to break the 50% mark, one analyst said there was encouraging news in the poll for Clinton.

"The takeaway message is that she's in a very strong position for the nomination," said Darrell West, director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University.

Some voters may be taking a wait-and-see attitude on the 2008 contest, but, "They like her experience, and they don't think the fact that she's a female is an insurmountable barrier to getting the nomination," West said.

"She hasn't closed the deal. There's a lot of terrain to cover. But she should feel good about the results."