Hillary Clinton leads Republican front-runner Rudolph Giuliani, in a hypothetical, all New York, 2008 showdown for the White House, according to new poll results published Thursday.
The Washington Post-ABC News survey was more good news for the Democratic front-runner, a day after she posted a 33 point lead over her top party rival Barack Obama in the poll, three months before first party nominating contests.
New York Senator Clinton, vying to make history by becoming America's first woman president, enjoyed a 51 percent to 43 percent edge over Giuliani in the poll, compared to a 49 to 47 percent lead in January.
The prospect of a titanic contest between Giuliani and Clinton has had pundits salivating for months, and the former New York mayor further stirred the pot last month with a string of attacks on the former first lady.
Such a poll could bolster Clinton's campaign, because it would appear to undercut suggestions she is too polarising to win a national election, and could swell Republican turnout.
Though Clinton and Giuliani appear to be in pole position in their races, projections this early on are purely hypothetical. While Giuliani leads national polls of the Republican field, he trails rival Mitt Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire - the two states expected to hold first nominating contests in early January.
Giuliani's appeal to conservative Republicans, a crucial voting block, is also in question, and many experts feel that despite basing his campaign on his leadership after the September 11 attacks in 2001, he has a tough path to the nomination.
Though she tops Democrats in national polls, and in most state surveys, Clinton is in a tough fight in Iowa, where a loss could change the complexion of the campaign.
A Newsweek poll last weekend however, offered Obama hope, giving him the support of 28 percent of likely Iowa caucus-goers, compared to 24 percent for Clinton and 22 percent for former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards.