Zogby: Hillary Defeatable by 5 GOP Frontrunners

All five of the leading Republican presidential candidates — including John McCain — would beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head match-up, according to a surprising new poll from Zogby International.

But Barack Obama outpolled all five GOP hopefuls — Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, and McCain.

The national poll of nearly 10,000 people — about equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, with about one-quarter independents — is more bad news for longtime front-runner Clinton. It shows that she’s slipping not only in Iowa and several other early caucus or primary states, but across the country as well.

And it appears to confirm the fears of many Democratic stalwarts that candidate Hillary does not offer the party its best chance to win the White House.

Asked whom they would choose in a race between Giuliani and Clinton, 43 percent of respondents said Giuliani and 39.4 percent chose Clinton, with 14.6 percent opting for “someone else” and 3 percent selecting “will not vote/not sure.”

Romney outpolled Clinton by a margin of 43.1 percent to 39.9 percent; Thompson beat out Hillary by a similar margin, 43.2 percent to 39.6 percent; and Mike Huckabee bested Clinton by a solid margin of 44.3 percent to 38.5 percent.

McCain, who trailed Clinton 45 percent to 43 percent in a July Zogby poll, has pulled ahead of the Democrat in the new poll, winning 42.1 of the vote compared to Clinton’s 37.6 percent.

But when the GOP hopefuls are matched up against Obama, the Illinois Democrat beats Giuliani by a margin of 46 percent to 40 percent, Romney (45.8 percent to 39.9 percent), Thompson (46.4 percent to 39.9 percent), Huckabee (45.8 percent to 39.6 percent), and McCain (44.8 percent to 38.2 percent.

Another bad sign for Hillary: John Edwards, who runs third in the polls behind Clinton and Obama, also outpolled all five leading Republicans, although by smaller margins than Obama.