Hillary Clinton Leads in Universal Columnist's 'Power Ratings'

By: E&P Staff Hillary Rodham Clinton leads in Ben Eckstein's latest "2008 presidential power ratings."

Eckstein, who writes "America's Line" for Universal Press Syndicate, said Republican Rudy Giuliani formerly held the top spot for several months before dropping to second place behind the Democratic Clinton. Meanwhile, Republican John McCain moved from fifth to third place after "officially" announcing his presidential candidacy.

The current top five in Eckstein's "power ratings" are Clinton (93.5), Giuliani (93.0), McCain (91.5), and Democrats Barack Obama (90.5) and John Edwards (90.0).

"America?s Line" has provided odds and spreads about sports and politics for 125 newspapers for 20 years. Eckstein also does the "Hollywood & Line" column syndicated by Universal.