Clinton outpaces Obama in matchups against Romney, Perry

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton far outpaces her boss — President Obama — in hypothetical matchups against top Republican candidates.

Clinton would beat Mitt Romney by 17 percentage points, with the former Massachusetts governor trailing 55 percent to 38 percent, while Rick Perry trails Clinton by 26 percentage points. The TIME magazine poll finds Clinton winning that hypothetical matchup 58 percent to 32 percent.

Meanwhile, TIME's poll found Obama only leading Romney by 3 percent and Perry by 12 percent. The poll did not survey either Democrat against insurgent Republican contender Herman Cain, but a Rasmussen poll released last week found the former Godfather's Pizza CEO edging the president in a hypothetical matchup.

Clinton has repeatedly dismissed questions about whether she would consider challenging Obama for the Democratic nomination, insisting she plans to retire at the end of his first term.

Ironically, Clinton was not the only member of her family whom Democrats seem eager to elect. Internet rumors about a potential House bid for daughter, Chelsea, spread yesterday following a report on Talk of the Sound that the former first daughter was considering a run. But a Clinton spokesman shot down that speculation.

"This is 100 percent false. She is not running for Congress in the 18th District or any other," spokesman Matt McKenna told the New York Daily News.

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