Frontrunner, out of the gates

A new poll by Washington Post-ABC News shows Clinton to be the early frontrunner with a wide lead over everyone else in the field. Probably not the most surprising news given her stature and personality which clearly overshadow the rest of the relative unknowns. From the Post:

Clinton took 41 percent in a hypothetical primary field against 12 other Democrats, far ahead of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) at 17 percent, former Sen. John Edwards (N.C) at 11 percent and former Vice President Al Gore at 10 percent. The party's 2004 nominee -- Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) -- received 8 percent support. No other candidate crested three percent.

Another article in the Post shows how her numbers have increased among women:

Clinton begins her historic race viewed favorably by 59 percent of women nationally... She is particularly popular among younger women, 18-34, who see her as a role model and who may not recall the negative publicity and partisan attacks that Clinton weathered as first lady over her health-care proposal and other issues.

This would all be bigger news if she weren't walloping the field. The question becomes: just how fast can she be torn down? Unless she's transformed into the new Teflon Hillary, she's going to suffer major dips in her polling numbers as the other Democrats and the Press start to take their swipes at her.