Poll: Democrats lead, Clinton is vulnerable, no one is popular Update: Hillary has a man problem

The latest WSJ/NBC poll reads like a reverse of the Lake Wobegon intro: Nobody looks smart and everyone is pretty much below average. Democrats hold a 50-35% lead on the generic question of which party should get the White House after Bush. But Hillary is weak and weakening while Giuliani is within the margin of error on her.

By 50% to 35%, the poll shows, Americans prefer that a Democrat gets elected to succeed Mr. Bush next November. In a direct matchup of leading candidates, however, that margin shrinks to 46% for Mrs. Clinton and 45% for Mr. Giuliani because of defections from voters like Linda Dunbar.

“I just don’t totally trust her,” said the 57-year-old homemaker from the Cleveland suburb of Seven Hills. Though Mrs. Dunbar voted for Bill Clinton in the 1990s, she would back Mr. Giuliani over Mrs. Clinton next November because at a time of steep foreign-policy challenges, “I just don’t believe the international world is ready for a woman president.”

I actually think the world is ready for a woman president. Just not that particular woman. Margaret Thatcher, yes. Hillary Clinton, no. Giuliani, as is usually the case, has the best line as to why:

Mr. Giuliani has maintained an aggressive stance toward his in-state rival for the White House. While promoting his antiterror credentials with tough talk on Iran, the former New York City mayor slammed Mrs. Clinton for displaying “the worst of the Clinton years” by equivocating in the debate on driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. “If you think a question about driver’s licenses is a tough question, a gotcha question, you’re not ready for [Iranian leader Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad,” Mr. Giuliani told a New Hampshire town hall meeting a few days ago.

That’s more than a one-liner. It’s a meme. And it’s accurate. Unfortunately, none of the top Democrats appear to be ready to go toe to toe with the world’s villains. Combine the new signs of Hillary’s weakness with her already high negatives, and she becomes a problematic candidate for the Democrats in a field of problematic candidates. She can be stopped.

Update: In probably the least surprising poll result since polling began, Hillary has a gender gap.

More than eight in 10 Republicans and more than half the married men in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll say they definitely wouldn’t vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton for president…

The poll found that 36% of women wouldn’t vote for Clinton, compared with 50% of men — and 55% of married men. Obama had comparable appeal to women and more to men. Clinton’s appeal overall falls as income rises, the reverse of the findings for Obama.

The same poll also says she would beat Giuliani, but take that with a grain of salt this far out. 36% of women won’t vote for her, though?

• Quotes of the day
• About those “doctored” Benghazi e-mails…
• White House word of the day – Irrelevant

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