ALBANY – Senator Clinton is in strong shape for re-election in New York this year, but most voters in her adopted state think it is unlikely the former first lady could win a 2008 presidential race, a statewide poll reported yesterday.

And, 51% of those voters told Marist College’s Institute for Public Opinion that Mrs. Clinton, “because of who she is,” would be treated more harshly than other candidates in a 2008 presidential campaign. Thirty-one percent of voters said she would be treated the same as other candidates.

Last week, a CNN-USA Today-Gallup national poll found 51% of the respondents said they definitely would not vote for her in a presidential election. While almost half of those polled indicated some support for a presidential run by Mrs. Clinton, only 16% said they would definitely vote for her.

Mrs. Clinton, who is seeking a second, six-year term in the Senate this year, has not said if she will seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. Forty-nine percent of New York voters in the Marist poll said Mrs. Clinton should not run for president while 41% said she should. While 59% said they expect Mrs. Clinton to run for president, 62% said it is unlikely she could win.

Conversely, 53% said Mayor Giuliani should run for president in 2008 while 41% said he should not do so.

“We are focused on 2006,” a Clinton adviser, Howard Wolfson, said. A Giuliani spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel, declined comment.

Governor Pataki, who is eyeing a bid for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, fared worse. Just 25% said he should run for president while 69% said he should scrap the idea. That is an improvement for Mr. Pataki from a September poll when just 17% of New York voters said he should run for the White House. In the Marist poll,54% of voters said they would definitely vote to re-elect Mrs. Clinton to the Senate while 32% said they would definitely vote against her.