Hillary Lead Historically Meaningless

You can site this historical fact the next time someone mentions to you that Hillary Clinton is ahead in the polls:

Hillary Rodham Clinton's lead in the early polls may not be that reassuring if history is any guide. Republican hopeful Rudy Giuliani, however, is sitting pretty.[...]Note that Edmund Muskie in 1972, George Wallace in 1976, Ted Kennedy in 1980, Gary Hart in 1988, Mario Cuomo in 1992 and Joe Lieberman in 2004 were early front-runners among Democrats. None won the nomination.

Republicans have picked the early front-runner in seven of the past 10 elections, according to Gallup polling. In the other three elections, Republican incumbents cruised to re-election.