NEW PRESIDENTIAL POLL FROM CNN / OPINION RESEARCH CORPORATION

The poll was taken April 10-12, with a sampling error of +/- five points for Republicans, and +/- six points for Democrats.

When Republicans were asked who they preferred among the announced or potential candidates for their party's presidential nomination, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani retains the lead that most other polls have noted, but the margin has closed with U.S. Senator John McCain only three points behind 27-24 percent. The other two in double digits are former U.S. Senator and actor Fred Thompson at 11 percent, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney at ten percent. Giuliani's support improves when Thompson and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich are not included, while McCain's percentages remain generally the same.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a slight lead over collegue Barack Obama 30-26 percent. The only active or potential candidates appearing in double digits are former Vice President Al Gore with 15 percent, and former U.S. Senator John Edwards with 12 percent. Without Gore listed, Clinton's percentages improves six percent compared to Edwards' three percent and Obama's two percent.

The Democratic survey also broke down prefernces along racial lines. It is interesting to note that Senator Clinton maintains a significant preferance among African-Americans, with an 11 percent lead over the Illinois senator when Al Gore's name is included, and a larger, 16 point lead when Gore is not listed. And in both situations, Clinton has a much larger margin of support among African-Americans (With Gore listed, Clinton's numbers are 26 percent among whites and 46 percent among blacks; without Gore listed, those figures bounce to 33 percent among whiles to 53 percent among blacks).

You can view the entire poll by clicking here (.pdf file).