Washington: It`s as if the last seven years never happened: Hillary Clinton is the prohibitive early Democratic favourite in the White House race.
A Washington Post poll on Thursday had Hillary obliterating the potential Democratic field and showed she would handily dispatch scandal-dented Republican hopeful Chris Christie in a 2016 General Election.
Still, the fact that Hillary is leading polls at this early stage hardly means she`ll burst through the glass ceiling in which she said she made 18 million cracks in the 2008 White House race.
Hillary was the heavy early favourite for the Democratic nomination in 2008 -- until the phenom known as Barack Obama exploded into life just before voting started and snatched away the prize.
While there appear to be no rock star candidates hiding in the wings this time around, the lesson of 2008 is that apparent "inevitability" does not guarantee victory.
Polls this early in a presidential race -- when no candidates are yet declared, though several are mulling runs -- are notoriously unreliable.
What is clear, though, is that if she does give it another go, any Democrat taking Hillary on could be in for a rough ride.
According to the survey, the former secretary of state would trounce her closest possible rival, Vice President Joe Biden, in a primary race. She currently leads him 73 percent to 12 percent among Democrats and independents who lean Democratic.
Even at this point, a six-to-one lead seems almost impossible for Biden to make up.
Populist Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, a favourite with the party`s left wing grass roots, is in the third spot with eight percent.
The potential Republican primary figures to be much closer, with former vice presidential nominee congressman Paul Ryan leading the pack with 20 percent, ahead of former Florida governor and `first brother` Jeb Bush with 18 percent.
Tough talking New Jersey Governor Christie, once seen as the Republican establishment`s standard bearer, has seen his hopes dimmed by local scandal and has just 13 percent among Republican and Republican-leaning independents.
