Despite the unbelievable torrent of publicity for him over the past month, Barack Obama has done little or nothing to shake Hillary Clinton’s huge lead in the polls. A new Washington Post-ABC poll has Hillary at 39 percent and Obama at 17 percent. Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani is at 34 percent, outdistancing John McCain by 8 points. And Mitt Romney? Five percent. That’s a number you can count on one hand. Granted, the poll isn’t at all conclusive because it only measures those who say they “lean” Republican or Democratic. But it tracks with two years of polling now among candidates and voters in both parties, and simply cannot be dismissed. Hillary always garners 35 percent or more, indicating that she is an unambiguous and significant frontrunner in the model of Bob Dole, who held a similar position going into 1996. As for Republicans, McCain and Giuliani continue to suck all the oxygen out of the race, splitting more than 60 percent of potential voters. And remember that since they have similar appeal, this is especially troublesome for any other contender — because a meltdown by one simply means his voters can gravitate to the other frontrunner. Despite the unbelievable torrent of publicity for him over the past month, Barack Obama has done little or nothing to shake Hillary Clinton’s huge lead in the polls. A new Washington Post-ABC poll has Hillary at 39 percent and Obama at 17 percent. Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani is at 34 percent, outdistancing John McCain by 8 points. And Mitt Romney? Five percent. That’s a number you can count on one hand. Granted, the poll isn’t at all conclusive because it only measures those who say they “lean” Republican or Democratic. But it tracks with two years of polling now among candidates and voters in both parties, and simply cannot be dismissed. Hillary always garners 35 percent or more, indicating that she is an unambiguous and significant frontrunner in the model of Bob Dole, who held a similar position going into 1996. As for Republicans, McCain and Giuliani continue to suck all the oxygen out of the race, splitting more than 60 percent of potential voters. And remember that since they have similar appeal, this is especially troublesome for any other contender — because a meltdown by one simply means his voters can gravitate to the other frontrunner.