US:Hillary Clinton has strengthened her position as the Democratic frontrunner in next year's presidential election, opening up a 33-point lead over Barack Obama in a new opinion poll and raising more money than any other Democrat during the past three months. The Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Mrs Clinton winning the support of a majority of Democrats for the first time since the campaign began, emerging as the favourite candidate of those who want change as well as those who value experience.
Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 53 per cent support Mrs Clinton, compared with 20 per cent for Mr Obama and 13 per cent for former senator John Edwards.
Mrs Clinton's support rose among all voters, notably among men, while Mr Obama's overall support fell by 7 per cent. Although some Democratic activists fear that Mrs Clinton is too polarising a figure to become president, 57 per cent of those polled said she was the Democratic candidate with the best chance of winning next year's election. Just 20 per cent think Mr Edwards is most electable and 16 per cent think Mr Obama is.
The poll represents as great a blow to Mr Obama as it is a boost to Mrs Clinton, undermining two of his most important claims - that he best represents change and that he would be best at healing partisan divisions in Washington.
Mrs Clinton is now ahead among those looking for a "new direction and new ideas", with support from 45 per cent - compared with 31 per cent for Mr Obama. Twice as many voters say she would be better at overcoming partisanship.
The former first lady enjoys a three-to-one lead as the "strongest leader" and is ahead on every issue polled, from the war in Iraq to reforming the American healthcare system.
Mrs Clinton's campaign announced this week that she had surpassed Mr Obama for the first time in a fundraising period, taking in $22 million in the past three months in funds that can be used for the primary campaign, compared with his $19 million.
Including funds earmarked for the general election, Mrs Clinton raised a total of $27 million in the quarter and Mr Obama took in $20 million. The two candidates are now almost even in the amount they have raised for the primaries, with Mr Obama bringing in about $75 million and Mrs Clinton about $72.5 million.
The Clinton campaign, which had lowered expectations about its fundraising in recent weeks, released the latest totals as Mr Obama was about to make a major foreign policy speech designed to emphasise his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq.
Timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of a speech Mr Obama made warning against the war in Iraq, it suggested that Mrs Clinton's vote to authorise the war raised questions about her judgment.
"There is a choice that has emerged in this campaign, one that the American people need to understand. Who got the single most important foreign policy decision since the end of the cold war right, and who got it wrong?
"This is not just a matter of debating the past. It's about who has the best judgment to make the critical decisions of the future," Mr Obama said.
Mrs Clinton's huge lead in the national polls and her fundraising success will reinforce her image as the most likely Democrat to succeed but such advantages have melted away quickly in past presidential campaigns. In 2004 Howard Dean spent much more than any other Democratic candidate and long enjoyed a huge poll lead over John Kerry, who went on to win the nomination.
In Iowa, which holds the first caucus in early January, Mrs Clinton has failed to pull ahead of Mr Obama and Mr Edwards and a recent poll showed Mr Obama ahead among likely voters in the state.
On the Republican side, the Washington Post/ABC News poll puts Rudy Giuliani ahead of his rivals but suggests that the party base lacks enthusiasm for the former New York mayor.
Just 23 per cent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say he best represents their party's core values, no more than say so about either John McCain or senator-turned-actor Fred Thompson.