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WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Democrats support Hillary Clinton for president in 2016, but they want to give her a fight before giving her the nomination.

A new Monmouth University poll found nearly half of respondents named the former secretary of State when asked to name their top choice for the party's nomination.

But the same number -- 48 percent -- said they also thought it would be better if she faced challengers in the primary, including 53 percent of those who say they support her. Forty-three percent preferred the party coalesce behind a single candidate, Clinton, early in the process.

"When nearly half of Democratic voters volunteer the name Hillary Clinton as their choice for 2016, it's hard to deny that she is the clear front runner," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "At the same, time Democrats do not want to the nomination process to be a coronation."

In the poll, no other candidate even broke double-digits. Popular progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was named by 6 percent of those polled, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Vice President Joe Biden, both with 2 percent.

Thirty-two percent, however, said they were undecided.

Of those polled, 82 percent said they had a favorable opinion of Clinton, compared to just 11 percent who viewed her unfavorably.

Support for Clinton was slightly lower in the Monmouth poll than in most others released in recent weeks. In surveys from McClatchy/Marist, CNN, Quinnipiac, Rasmussen and ABC/Washington Post released since October, support for Clinton ranged from 57 percent to 65 percent.

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Democrats support Hillary Clinton, and a primary challenge: poll

Call Hillary Clinton the early presidential frontrunner - but barely.

That's the result from a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, which finds that half of American voters - 50 percent - saying they could see themselves supporting her if she runs for the White House in 2016, while 48 percent oppose her.

Although that margin of support is small, it stands in sharp contrast to the numbers for well-known Republicans, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who announced on Tuesday that he's "actively" exploring a presidential bid.

More than a year before the first votes will be cast:

Despite these numbers - which could certainly change as the presidential field becomes clearer - Clinton is far from a lock on the presidency.

A whopping 71 percent of American voters want the next president to take a different approach than President Barack Obama's; Clinton served as his first-term secretary of state.

And by 40 percent to 38 percent, voters prefer a Republican to win the White House in 2016 instead of a Democrat.

"This is an electorate -by a large margin - looking for change," says Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted this survey with Democratic pollster Peter Hart and his colleagues at Hart Research Associates.

Breaking down the Democratic and Republican fields

Still, Clinton has a substantial lead among Democratic voters - 82 percent say they could see themselves supporting if she runs, versus 15 percent who can't.

See the article here:
Hillary Clinton Early Leader in Presidential Race: Poll

Hillary Clinton is suggesting that President Barack Obamas 2008 campaign team wanted her to attack Sarah Palin for being a woman when the former vice-presidential candidate was first named John McCains running mate.

The day she was nominated, the Obama campaign did contact me and asked me if I would attack her. I said, 'Attack her for what? For being a woman? Attack her for being on a ticket that's trying to draw attention? There'll be plenty of time to do what I think we should do in politics, which is draw distinctions,' Clinton told NBC News Cynthia McFadden in an interview set to air on Tuesdays NBC Nightly News, which was previewed on that mornings edition of NBCs Today.

Clinton made similar remarks on Tuesdays Good Morning America, where she sat down for an interview with Robin Roberts.

The former (and potentially future) presidential candidate confirmed to GMA that she was asked by the Obama campaign to go out and criticize Palin the day she was selected as McCains running mate.

I said, No, lets wait until we know where she stands. I dont know anything about her, do you know anything about her? And nobody of course did, Clinton recalled. "I think its fair to say, I made it clear Im not going to attack somebody for being a woman or a man. Im going to try to look at the issues, where they stand, what their experience is, what they intend to do -- then thats fair game."

Clinton told McFadden that the White House had reviewed her newly released memoir, Hard Choices, before publication and didnt ask her to take anything out.

Clinton refers to the Palin incident in the book, writing, according to CBS News, "[The Obama camp] immediately issued a dismissive statement and reached out to me in hopes I would follow suit. But I wouldn't. I was not going to attack Palin just for being a woman appealing for support from other women. I didn't think it made political sense, and it didn't feel right. So I said no..."

Palin tweeted about Clintons book on Monday:

Watch Clinton's interviews with McFadden and Roberts below.

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Hillary Clinton Suggests Obama Campaign Wanted Her to Attack Sarah Palin for Being a Woman (Video)

Hillary Clinton addressed a wide range of topics during her sit-down with Diane Sawyer, from international crises to presidential plans.

During the in-depth interview that aired on ABC'sprimetime special Hillary Clinton: Public and Private One on One with Diane Sawyer on Monday night, the former secretary of state discussed her timeline for deciding if she will run for president in 2016, the ongoing impact of the crisis in Benghazi, Libya, and Monica Lewinsky being back in the public eye.

Clinton admitted that the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woodsin Benghazi still weigh heavily on her heart.

"The hardest thing was to think about Sean Smith and Chris Stevens trapped," she said of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in 2012.

VIDEO:Hillary Clinton Responds to Age, Health Jabs During Diane Sawyer Interview

"I would give anything on earth if this had not happened. I am also clear in my own mind that we had a system. I take that responsibility, but I was not making security decisions.And I certainly would wish that we had made some of the changes that came to our attention to make as a result of the investigation. But I also am clear in my own mind that we had a system, and that system, of course, ended with me," she said.

When asked if this is the "cost of doing business," she replied: "We have to be thoughtful about where we send peopleand how we keep them protected."

After two years and 13 hearings on the topic, the debate rages on, and there will be another investigation ofBenghazi and Clinton. She said she doesn't know yet whether she will testify, but when asked if the situation was a reason not to run for president, she said it was more of an incentive.

"Actually, it's more of a reason to run, because I do not believe our great country should be playing minor-league ball. We ought to be in the majors," she said. "I view this as really apart from -- even a diversion from -- the hard work that the Congress should be doing about the problems facing our country and the world."

VIDEO:Hillary Clinton Reveals Timetable for Making Decision About Presidential Run

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Hillary Clinton Tells Diane Sawyer That Benghazi Crisis is 'More Reason to Run' for President (Video)

By Maeve Reston, CNN

updated 1:36 PM EST, Mon December 15, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- As she positions herself for a potential presidential run in 2016, Hillary Clinton sought to shine her spotlight Monday on one of her longtime goals: narrowing the gender gap around the world through the use of data.

The former Secretary of State spoke briefly Monday at an event with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to give a progress report on their joint 2012 initiative known as "data2x" -- an effort intended to spark "a gender data revolution" -- which is a partnership of the Clinton Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the United Nations Foundation.

Clinton noted that her quest to improve the data about the status of women around the world stemmed from her years as Secretary of State when she would try to broach those topics with other world leaders, who would "smile and nod" but often not take the topic seriously.

"You can't understand what the problem is if you don't have a good grasp of what the facts and figures are," Clinton said. At the State Department, she learned, she said, that she could not rely solely on the moral argument that women's rights should be considered human rights.

Clinton said she wanted to use to data to build a case strong enough "to convince the skeptics, based on hard data and clear-eyed analysis, that creating opportunities for women and girls across the world directly supports everyone's security and prosperity, and therefore should be an enduring part of our diplomacy and development work."

"After all, good decisions in government, in business, in life, are based on evidence rather than ideology or gut feelings or anecdotes," Clinton said.

The former Secretary of State did not address other topics in the news Monday -- namely last week's release of a Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's use of torture as part of its interrogation practices during the presidency of George W. Bush. (President Obama banned the use of those techniques after taking office in 2009).

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Clinton: Fixing gender gap requires all the 'facts and figures'