According to the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, 69 percent of Americans said the Democratic former first lady, now senator from New York, shouldn't run for president. Twenty-six percent said she should run "someday," compared to a poll in March 2001 that found that 30 percent felt she should run for president someday.
"There's been some erosion from numbers that weren't very good to begin with," said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff. "There's no groundswell that says there needs to be a third Clinton term."
Clinton's support was stronger in New York, the Northeast, California and among women, minorities and Democrats.
"Forty-two percent of Democrats who think she should run someday is something you can build on, but there's no one holding their breath, either," Miringoff said.
When people were asked if they had a favorable opinion about Clinton, 53 percent viewed her unfavorably, while 37 percent had a positive impression. Miringoff said this is the first Marist has polled her favorable ratings.
The results ran along party lines, with 66 percent of Democrats giving her favorable reviews, compared with only 9 percent of Republicans and 36 percent of independents. The results were similar to a Marist poll six months ago.
"There is a love-hate relationship with her, and when you get out of the Northeast, there's more of the latter and less of the former," Miringoff said.
The majority of those surveyed in the nationwide poll, 63 percent, said they expected Clinton to serve out her six-year term, as she has promised, and not run for president in 2004. Twenty-eight percent said they expected her to run for president in 2004. Nine percent were unsure.
A spokeswoman for Clinton didn't immediately return a request for comment Monday.
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Clinton had faced off in the 2000 Senate race, until Giuliani withdrew because of prostate cancer and marital problems. Clinton overcame highly negative reactions in early polls to easily defeat Republican candidate Rick Lazio, a former Long Island congressman.
The poll interviewed 1,000 people -- 769 of them registered voters -- at random by telephone Wednesday and Thursday. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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