The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds Hillary Clinton (D) with a six-point advantage over fellow New Yorker Rudy Giuliani (R) in the race for Connecticut’s seven Electoral College votes. Forty-six percent (46%) of the state’s Likely Voters prefer Clinton while 40% support Giuliani. Eight percent (8%) say they’d vote for a third party option and five percent (5%) are not sure.

In May, Clinton and Giuiliani were tied at 40% with Michael Bloomberg attracting support from 9%.

While a Giuliani-Clinton match-up remains competitive, Clinton defeats other Republican hopefuls by more than twenty percentage points. Clinton leads Fred Thompson 54% to 32% and Mitt Romney 54% to 31%.

Giuliani is viewed favorably by 58% of Connecticut voters while 57% have a positive view of Clinton. Forty-three percent (43%) have a favorable opinion of Thompson while 41% say the same about Romney.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Connecticut voters say it would be good for the nation if there were more independents in the U.S. Senate. Only 14% say that would be bad while 18% say it would have no impact. Nationally, just 15% say that Congress is doing a good or an excellent job.

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman (I) was elected as an Independent last November after losing the Democratic Primary election to Ned Lamont.

Forty-seven percent (47%) say that Connecticut voters made the right decision by sending Lieberman back to Washington, but 38% disagree. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Republicans think it was the right decision. Just 38% of Democrats share that view along with 50% of the state’s unaffiliated voters.

Just 2% of Connecticut voters say it’s Very Likely their other Senator, Chris Dodd, will be elected President in 2008. Five percent (5%) say he’s Very Likely to win the Vice Presidential nomination of his Party. Dodd is currently supported by about 1% of Likely Democratic Primary Voters in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Governor Jodi Rell continues to be extraordinarily popular. Sixty-four percent (64%) of the state’s voters say she’s doing a good or an excellent job. Just 9% say she’s doing a poor job. Reviews for President Bush are just the opposite in Connecticut—55% say he is doing a poor job while just 27% say good or excellent.

The survey was conducted in partnership with Fox Television Stations, Inc.

Among Democrats nationally, Hillary Clinton is the clear frontrunner for the nomination but her victory is not inevitable. The Republican race is getting murkier and there is no clear frontrunner. An analysis of who actually votes in Republican primaries and caucuses suggests that Fred Thompson is in a much stronger position than most observers understand.

See survey questions and top-line results. Crosstabs available for Premium Members only.