CLINTON, McCAIN LEAD NEW "TIME" POLL

Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain lead their respective parties in a presidential preference poll published in the Time magazine that hit the stands today.

Clinton tops Sen. Barack Obama 40% to 21%, while former V.P. candidate John Edwards is third at 11%.

The bright spot for Obama is his opportunity to improve those numbers as voters get to know him. Only 51% of those polled said they know enough about Obama to make a decision on him one way or another. But his "net favorability" rating (those who like him versus those who don't) among those who know him is +47.

Clinton is known by 94% of those polled, so she has little room to pick up new support. And her "net favorability rating is just +17.

On the GOP side, McCain has a four point lead of Giuliani (30% to 26%). However, Giuliani's "net favorability" rating is +68 compared with McCain's +45.

In one-on-one pairings, McCain and Clinton are dead even at 47% and McCain tops both Edwards and Obama by 7 points.

WEEKEND READING

Time has two other articles on 2008 this week that are worth looking at. In one piece Time examines the factors behind the early start to the '08 race and the role that early start may have in setting candidate agendas and deciding their fate. The other piece examines eight keys to the '08 race.

Meanwhile, Rolling Stone looks at Al Gore and why he should run, why he likely will run and why he stands a strong chance of winning the Democratic nomination in '08 - but only if he maintains is his post-2000 persona as doesn't revert to the wonkish bore who ran last time.

"THE FIX'S WEEKLY TOP FIVE

Rolling Stone may see good things for Gore, but he's nowhere to be found on "The Fix" top-five list.

Each week Washington Post politcal blogger/reporter Chris Cillizza ranks the top five candidates for each party in the 2008 presidential race.

Not much change this week, although Barack Obama has moved into a second-place tie with John Edwards and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback moved up to No. 4 on the GOP list, dropping Newt Gingrich to fifth.