Hillary Clinton Favored for VP if Biden Bows Out, Poll Finds

Vice President Joe Biden says hes absolutely, positively going to be President Obamas running mate in 2012. But if he wasnt?

A plurality of Americans would strongly prefer Hillary Clinton to step in to assume the VP role, according to a new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll.

Forty-three percent of adults said they favored Clinton as a Biden replacement when presented with a list of possible names by pollsters.

Billionaire businessman Warren Buffett, CIA director David Petraeus, Oprah Winfrey and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo all received single-digit support in the survey, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Clinton has remained a highly popular figure with voters, insulated from the political fallout over the lagging economy in her role as secretary of state. A recent Gallup poll found 66 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of her, comparedwith 46 percent for Biden.

In a March interview with CNN, Clinton announced that she would leave her post if Obama won re-election. She also ruled out running for the presidency again,or joining Obama on the 2012 ticket.

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