Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new Gallup poll finds an overwhelming majority of Democrats say they trust pro-abortion New York Sen. Hillary Clinton to handle the issue of abortion. She obtains much higher support on the issue from Democrats in the survey than pro-abortion rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards.Sen. Hillary Clinton, who currently leads the Democratic race for the 2008 presidential nomination by more than 20 percentage points according to two recent polls.
Part of the lead is explained in a new Gallup survey which shows Democrats perceive Clinton as the best prepared of the top three Democratic contenders to handle 13 of 17 different challenges that could face the next president.
On abortion, 61 percent of the Democrats polled say they trust Clinton while just 14 percent say Obama would best handle the issue and 11 percent for Edwards.
Another 14 percent said they had no opinion on which Democratic candidate would perform the best on abortion.
The September 24-27 poll came just three weeks after Clinton told New Hampshire voters she won't soften her hard-core pro-abortion views if she's elected president.
Clinton promised she would bring change as president but also vowed she would never compromise on her pro-abortion views.
"Ultimately, to bring change, you have to know when to stand your ground, and when to find common ground," she said. "You need to know when to stick to principles and fight, and know when to make principled compromises."
At the same time Clinton received criticism for not willing to bend on her rigid pro-abortion stance, political observers noted that, as she campaigned in more conservative Iowa on Labor Day, Clinton dropped any references to abortion out of her stump speech.
Clinton didn't back down from her pro-abortion views in an August speech to leaders at Planned Parenthood.
There, she pledged continuing support for the nation's largest abortion business and bragged of her 100 percent voting record with that organization.
"I'm very proud of our partnership, of working together over so many years on behalf of reproductive freedom and health care and fundamental Constitutional rights and values," she said.
"[W]hen I'm president, I will devote my very first days in office to reversing these ideological, anti-science, anti-prevention policies that this administration has put into place," she said of President Bush's pro-life policies.