NBC/WSJ Poll: Clinton continues to lead Obama nationally; Obama fares better against GOPers.

While Giuliani has lost his national lead in the GOP field, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton — whose campaign also has received plenty of scrutiny as of late — has maintained hers, according to the poll. Forty-five percent of Democratic primary voters say they would vote for her, compared with 23 percent for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and 13 percent for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. No other Democratic candidate receives more than 4 percent.

Those numbers are virtually unchanged from November, when Clinton held an identical 22-point lead over Obama (47-25 percent), with Edwards in third (at 11 percent).

Other recent national surveys have somewhat similar results. In the USA Today/Gallup poll, Clinton has an 18-point lead over Obama (45-27 percent), and in Reuters/Zogby, it’s 8 points (40-32 percent).

Despite her national lead, the NBC/Journal survey underscores two potential concerns that some Democrats have about the former first lady’s candidacy: her relatively high negative numbers and her electability.

Forty-four percent of all respondents have a negative impression of Clinton, versus 42 percent who hold a positive view of her. By comparison, Obama has a 46-26 percent positive/negative rating, while Edwards’ is 38-31 percent.

In addition, Clinton leads two of the top GOP presidential candidates in hypothetical match-ups — but within the margin of error and by smaller margins than Obama does. Clinton bests Giuliani by 3 points (46-43 percent) and Huckabee by 2 points (46-44 percent).

Yet Obama leads those same two men by 9 points (49-40 percent) and 12 points (48-36 percent), respectively. The reason why Obama fares better in these match-ups, McIntuff says, is because of independents: They side with Obama but against Clinton.