PRESSURE was growing on Hillary Clinton yesterday to challenge George W. Bush for the American presidency in 2004 after the latest in a series of polls made her the runaway favourite among Democrats to be their party’s nominee.

Now that Al Gore, the former Vice-President, has withdrawn from the White House race, Mrs Clinton would be the choice of 30 per cent of her party’s registered voters to challenge Mr Bush, according to a CNN/Time survey yesterday.

That compared with only 13 per cent each for Senator Joseph Lieberman, Mr Gore’s 2000 presidential running-mate, and John Kerry, the veteran Massachusetts senator, who have all but announced their candidacies. No other potential candidate reached double figures.

Mrs Clinton has insisted that she will not run in 2004. She has promised to complete her first term as New York senator, which ends in 2006, and clearly has set her sights on becoming America’s first woman President in 2008. But there is a growing desire among party activists to persuade the former First Lady to stand next time around.

Mrs Clinton’s popularity is creating a momentum that she could well find hard to ignore. Last week, a Gallup poll found that she could count on a formidable 41 per cent of Democrats if she did announce a bid for President, with Mr Lieberman and Mr Kerry winning a mere 15 per cent if she decided to run.

With a President who still enjoys a 65 per cent approval rating, party strategists believe that she may be the only candidate with sufficient name recognition and political clout to mount a serious challenge.

After last month’s disastrous mid-term election results, when the Democrats lost control of the Senate and several seats in the House of Representatives, a strong showing in the 2004 presidential election has become the party’s top priority.

Yesterday’s CNN/Time poll suggested that Mr Bush would win landslide victories in contests against both Mr Lieberman and Mr Kerry. In a Bush/Lieberman contest, the poll found, 55 per cent of voters said that they would support the President, with only 39 per cent declaring for the Connecticut senator. In a race with Mr Kerry, Mr Bush would carry 56 per cent, against 39 per cent for Mr Kerry.

The dilemma for Mrs Clinton is the promise she has made not to run. But political observers note that, in 1991, Bill Clinton pledged not to challenge the first President Bush for the presidency, only to change his mind and announce his candidacy several months later.

After Mr Gore’s announcement last week, a spokesman for Mrs Clinton said: “Nothing has changed. She is going to serve out her six-year Senate term.”

Despite Mr Bush’s enormous power on Capitol Hill and his high approval ratings, the next 18 months could be perilous for the President. Problems in a war against Iraq, a closely divided Senate and deep uncertainty over the economy could still combine to blow his presidency off course.

After the Gulf War in 1991, his father enjoyed 90 per cent approval ratings. Eighteen months later, however, Mr Clinton was in the White House instead of him.

If Mrs Clinton does decide to run in 2004, the quiet preparations that she has made already for her likely 2008 bid will stand her in good stead. She has made great advances in shedding her liberal image and improving her centrist credentials.

She has her own formidable fundraising empire and has bankrolled candidates in the key presidential primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. She has also dropped the use of her maiden name, Rodham, which was seen as a feminist affectation by much of Middle America.

But she is still one of the most polarising figures in American politics, loathed by great swaths of the United States for her association with the scandals that beset the Clinton White House.

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