Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani Leads in Latest Fox News Poll

FOX News Poll: Obama Trails Clinton in 2008 Dem Primary

Despite the almost incredible amount of buzz about potential presidential hopeful Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the latest FOX News poll finds that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton soundly outperforms Obama in the Democratic primary and also in hypothetical head-to-head matchups. Even though a lot could change before 2008, so far Republicans have clearly coalesced around former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain as their partyâ€™s frontrunners.

On the Republican primary side, the two frontrunners remain unchanged from previous polling: Giuliani (30 percent) and McCain (23 percent) far outdistance the competition. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (9 percent) and Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney (8 percent) are the only other contenders who register above 3 percent.

Giuliani (42 percent) tops McCain (40 percent) by just 2 percentage points when Republicans are asked to pick between only those two candidates, and McCain tops Romney by 59 percent to 14 percent.

Clearly, the race is boiling down to Mayor Giuliani and Senator McCain. Isn’t this reminiscent of the 1976 and 1980 GOP campaigns – Ford vs. Reagan and George HW Bush vs. Reagan?

Look for a long primary season with the GOP nomination decided in California. But, will the California Legislature change the June primary election to March?

Very possible…..

But, the nominee will be Giuliani or McCain. The other wannabe candidates like Mitt Romney trail badly in primary polls. Romney’s Mormon religion also does not poll well.

Fox News poll details are here.

In head-to-head matchups, Giuliani has a 9-point and McCain an 8-point edge over Clinton. These results are essentially unchanged from previous polling.

When the Democratic candidate is Obama, the Republican advantage increases. Giuliani bests Obama by 11 points and McCain tops him by 19 points.

As in previous polls, Mayor Giuliani matches up the best against likely Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton.

The GOP Primary details:

Question: If the 2008 Republican presidential primary were held today, for whom would
you vote if the candidates were:

1. Rudy Giuliani 30%

2. John McCain 23

3. Newt Gingrich 9

4. Mitt Romney 8

5. Sam Brownback 3

6. George Pataki 2

7. Duncan Hunter 1

8. Chuck Hagel – 3

9. (Other) 1

10. (Donâ€™t know) 22

11. (Would not vote in
Republican primary) 2

Question: If John McCain and Rudy Giuliani were the only choices in the Republican primary, how would you vote?
Republicans:

McCain – 40%

Giuliani – 42%

(Donâ€™t know) – 3%

(Would not vote) – 15%

Question: If John McCain and Mitt Romney were the only choices in the Republican primary, how would you vote?

Republicans

McCain – 59%

Romney- 14%

(Donâ€™t know) – 5%

(Would not vote) – 23%

In the General Election:

Question:Thinking ahead to the next presidential election, if the 2008 genera lelection were held today and the candidates were [NAME] and [NAME], for whom would you vote?

What if the candidates were:
Rudy Giuliani – 48%

Hillary Clinton – 39%

Don’t Know – 13%

Stay tuned…….