Poll: H. Clinton favorability 67 percent

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's popularity hit an all-time high, 67 percent, in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday.

The poll, conducted Jan. 16-20 among a random sampling of 1,033 U.S. adults, found Clinton with a substantially stronger favorability rating than that of Vice President Joe Biden, who was viewed favorably by 48 percent of those surveyed, ABC reported Wednesday.

Clinton and Biden are widely viewed as the two most likely contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, although neither has announced intentions to run.

The poll results -- released as Clinton was set to testify on Capitol Hill about the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya -- found 35 percent said they "strongly" view her favorably, while 14 percent say they "strongly" view her unfavorably. The measure of so-called intensity of sentiment found 22 percent "strongly" view Biden favorably while 23 percent "strongly" view him unfavorably.

Clinton's numbers appear to give her an advantage over Republicans considered early front-runners for their party's nomination in 2016, ABC said.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was comparatively unknown in surveys conducted last summer, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was viewed favorably by 36 percent and got an unfavorable rating from 45 percent of those polled at that time. Voters were about evenly split on U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., GOP nominee Mitt Romney's 2012 running mate.

Clinton leads Biden among Democrats, Republicans and independents -- with a 23-point advantage among independents. She leads Biden by 29 points among Hispanics and by 4 points among African-Americans.

The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.