Polls and endorsements: Clinton building up on her momentum

Hillary Clinton is increasingly looking like the inevitable Democratic nominee. Not that she has wrapped it up, but for now she is getting many benefits from this momentum cycle.

First up today is the Fox News primary poll, that has Clinton breaking 50% for the second time (roughly a week after she did it for the first time in an ABC-WaPo poll). She gets 50%, followed by Barack Obama at 18% and John Edwards at 11%. Certainly not where Clinton's rivals were hoping to be after months of campaigning. And yes, national polls are meaningless, but a 32% lead allows Clinton to stumble dramatically in Iowa without endangering her entire advantage. Much like Mondale-Hart in 1984 -- if Mondale did not have that massive a national lead going into New Hampshire, would he have survived losing the primary there?

And speaking of Walter Mondale, the former Vice-President and Democratic nominee will endorse Hillary. Mondale will probably not move many votes, but he could still land the Hillary campaign some credibility among those doubting her liberal credentials. This is exactly the kind of benefit a front-runner gets: A constant steam of good news, endorsement, poll leads that suck the oxygen out of rival campaigns. And while support like Mondale's won't help Clinton that much, it could have boosted Obama's or Edwards's, so Clinton has to be glad she gets it.

Clinton also got another high-profile endorsement, that of Georgia Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the civil-rights movement. This is obviously a blow to Barack Obama, who apparently believed that Lewis would endorse him. If the fight for the African-American vote will determine the winner of the Democratic primary race -- especially in South Carolina -- endorsements are bound to help Clinton advance her argument. Not to mention that Georgia now votes on February 5th, so it could end up being a crucial battleground state. Lewis's statement emphasized that, “I have looked at all the candidates, and I believe that Hillary Clinton is the best prepared to lead this country at a time when we are in desperate need of strong leadership."

Finally, Rasmussen has come out with a new general election poll, which also has great news for the Clinton camp! Rasmussen only pitted Clinton against Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson (it did the same with Obama last Friday):

• Clinton leads Giuliani 48% to 41%.
  
• She crushes Thompson by 15 points: 52% to 37%.
• Rasmussen also finds that Clinton's favorability rating has reacheed a high of 54%, while Giuliani's is stuck at 49%.
  

Rasmussen is clearly finding the election getting away from Republicans. We reported last week how Giuliani's favorable rating has slid all year from 70% to now being under 50%. And Clinton, Obama and John Edwards now all lead the four major Republicans in Rasmussen polls by convincing margins -- a stunning sweep that shows more than anything how difficult the political terrain is for Republicans next year.