Hillary Clinton is emerging, among Democrats and political observers, as the favourite to be the candidate for the 2008 presidential race.

　　Until recently, Senator Clinton had maintained a fairly low profile in Washington but she is now being identified as the most likely opponent to the Republican challenger.

　　A survey by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut last month showed 42 per cent of Democrat voters favouring Senator Clinton were she to enter the fray in the 2004 election. That put her way ahead of the second favourite, Senator Joe Lieberman, with 15 per cent. Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac poll, said: "Clearly, she is thinking about 2008. She's making friends and raising money and, boy, is she in good shape. Already, she is, without question among Democrats, the leading figure. In our polls sometimes she beats all the others combined."