National News W. THRASHES DEMS IN MOCK PREZ POLL By DEBORAH ORIN

November 14, 2002 -- WASHINGTON - President Bush clobbers Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Al Gore by a landslide in a test run for the 2004 presidential race, a new national poll has found.

It also showed that Americans want Bush to keep Dick Cheney as his veep, but if Cheney exits, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the odds-on favorite to replace him.

In presidential trial heats, Bush trounces Clinton (D-N.Y.) by a whopping 17 points, running away with the race, 55 to 38 percent, according to Quinnipiac University's post-election poll.

In a rerun of the 2000 campaign, Bush beats Gore by 12 points, leading 53 to 41 percent - and he tops Gore's 2000 running mate, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), 54 to 37.

"Bush takes them all to the cleaners," said pollster Maurice Carroll.

"This shows us that Hillary should do what she's been doing - fending off any attempt to make her run in 2004 and lose to Bush, and hope she gets a chance in 2008."

Most voters - 53 percent - want Cheney to stay on the ticket, as Bush pledged last week, but if he exits, 63 percent like the idea of putting Giuliani on for veep.

Gore, now launching a book tour, still leads the 2004 presidential pack as the top choice of 32 percent of Democrats, followed by Clinton, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle (S.D.), Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), Rep. Dick Gephardt (Mo.) and Sen. John Edwards (N.C.).

The Nov. 7-11 poll of 1,069 voters nationwide has an error margin of 3 percent either way.

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2002