The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Washington

Hillary Clinton's popularity has plunged to a seven-year low, while her Democratic White House rival appears to have escaped unscathed from controversy over his outspoken pastor, a US poll suggests. According to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll yesterday, Clinton received a 37 per cent positive rating among the sample of registered voters, her lowest rating since March 2001, two months after she first took office as New York senator. Meanwhile, her opponent saw no significant change among respondents in his positive rating, which was down only slightly to 49 per cent from 51 per cent two weeks ago. He also stood strong against Republican candidate John McCain, who 58 per cent of voters said would be successful in uniting the country, compared to 60 per cent for Obama and 47 per cent for Clinton. Obama, a senator from Illinois, gave a landmark speech on race in America last week in a bid to smooth controversy over his pastor Jeremiah Wright's incendiary comments on racism and American foreign policy.