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USA Today: Poll: Clinton, Giuliani widen leads over rivals

Empire State Sen. Hillary Clinton holds a 19-point lead over her Democratic colleague from Illinois, Sen. Barack Obama, while former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has a 16-point advantage among Republicans over Arizona Sen. John McCain. Both have widened their leads in recent weeks.

The telephone survey of 1,006 adults was conducted Friday through Sunday. In hypothetical match-ups, registered voters picked Giuliani over Clinton, 50% to 48%, while Clinton trumped McCain, 50%-47% — all within the poll’s margin of error of 3 percentage points. Giuliani beat Obama by 9 points (52-43), while an Obama-McCain race produced a tie at 48%.

The Aggregate Candidate Poll:

Please tell me which of those candidates you would be most likely to support for the Republican nomination for President in the year 2008, or if you would support someone else.

BASED ON 425 REPUBLICANS AND REPUBLICAN LEANERS

	2007 Feb 9-11	2007 Jan 12-14	2006 Dec 11-14	2006 Nov 9-12
Rudy Giuliani	40	31	28	28
John McCain	24	27	28	26
Newt Gingrich	9	10	8	7
Mitt Romney	5	7	4	5
Sam Brownback	3	1	2	1
Jim Gilmore	2	2	N/A	N/A
Tommy Thompson	2	2	2	N/A
Mike Huckabee	2	1	2	1
Duncan Hunter	1	*	1	*
Tom Tancredo	1	N/A	N/A	N/A
George Pataki	1	3	1	1
Chuck Hagel	1	1	1	1
Condoleezza Rice ^	*	1	12	13
George Allen	N/A	N/A	2	2
Bill Frist	N/A	N/A	N/A	4
Other	1	2	2	2
None	2	3	3	3
All/any	–	–	–	–
No opinion	7	10	7	7
^ Rice responses in 2007 poll were volunteered; she was included in the list of candidates in 2006 polls.

The Head to Head with Giuliani vs. McCain Poll:

(Asked of Republicans and independents who lean to the Republican Party) Suppose the choice for the Republican presidential nomination narrows down to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani or Arizona Senator John McCain. Which one would you prefer the Republican Party nominate for president?

BASED ON 425 REPUBLICANS AND REPUBLICAN LEANERS

	Giuliani	McCain	No opinion
2007 Feb 9-11	57	39	4
2007 Jan 5-7	50	42	8

Poll momentum is definitely Rudy’s and what does that mean early?

Campaign money from fundraising.

Money that can be used in the costly media markets of California, New York and Florida which will likely have their primary elections on the same day, Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008.

Stay tuned…….

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Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy – 100 Per Cent Committed to Running for President

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Vulnerabilities

Rudy Giuliani Watch: California GOP Convention Post Mortem

Rudy Giuliani Watch: The California GOP News Conference

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy – That is the Kind of President I Want to Be

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Announces for President

California Republican Convention Watch: Sacramento and Raining

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy vs. Hillary in 2008?

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Trashing Rudy on Speaking Fees and Consulting

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Distorting Rudy’s Position on Justice Ginsburg

Rudy Giuliani Watch: America’s Mayor Announces for President on Hannity and Colmes

The Rudy Giuliani Files

American Spectator Blog: Ted Olson Supporting Giuliani

Theodore Olson, the stalwart conservative lawyer and former solicitor general for the Bush administration, told the Spectator he will be supporting Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid.

“I admire his character, his capacity for leadership, his instincts, and his principles,” Olson said over the phone this afternoon. He said he will help Giuliani raise money as well as offer advice on legal issues
and domestic policy matters that involve constitutional questions.

Olson and Giuliani have been longtime friends since serving in the Reagan Justice Department from 1981-1983, when Olson was assistant attorney general in charge of the office of legal counsel and Giuliani was associate attorney general. Olson said they met with Attorney General William French Smith every morning and worked closely on a number of issues.

The support of Olson should help Giuliani in his quest to win over social conservatives who remain skeptical of his pledge to appoint strict constructionist judges.

“I’ve known him for 26 years and we’ve talked about this many times,” Olson said. “He feels very strongly that people like Justice Scalia, Chief Justice Roberts, Sam Alito, Clarence Thomas, are the type of people that he would put on the court…I’m quite convinced that this is a genuine viewpoint that he has.”

Ted Olson is a very well respected conservative attorney and a former Solicitor General under President Bush who supported and was an advocate for the Patriot Act.  In conservative legal circles this endorsement carries gravitus.

Stay tuned……

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The Rudy Giuliani Files

New York City – In a sign of continuing momentum, the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee today announced Congressman David Dreier, Chairman of the California Republican Congressional Delegation and House Rules Committee Ranking Republican, has announced his support for Mayor Rudy Giuliani to be the next President of the United States. Dreier’s endorsement follows the rousing reception Mayor Giuliani received at the California State Republican Convention and his successful swing through the state. Dreier will help lead Mayor Giuliani’s exploratory committee efforts in California.

Congressman Dreier said, “America needs the proven leadership of Rudy Giuliani to tackle the difficult challenges our country is facing. Not only does Mayor Giuliani have a record of results, he has a positive, optimistic vision that can unite our Party and our country for the greater good.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani welcomed the support from Congressmen Dreier. “I’m excited to have a Republican leader like Congressman Dreier on our team.”

Other California Representatives Devin Nunes and Mary Bono have previously endorsed Hizzoner.

More California endorsements will be announced later in the week.

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The Rudy Giuliani Files

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani signs an autograph at the River Park shopping center Monday in Fresno.

Fresno Bee: Giuliani rouses backers in Fresno

Rudy Giuliani is considered a moderate Republican, but if the all-but-certain presidential candidate’s Monday reception in Fresno is any indication, he is doing well among conservatives in the central San Joaquin Valley.

“He’s a proven entity,” said Fran Blackney, business advocate and communications director at the Clovis Chamber of Commerce.

Blackney, who supports Giuliani for president, said she likes the way the former New York City mayor “cleaned up” the nation’s largest city and how he has made fighting terrorism a top priority.

Ken May, chairman of the Fresno County Republican Central Committee, said Giuliani is “the most electable” of all the people seeking the GOP presidential nomination.

Blackney and May were part of a group of about 100 mostly dedicated Republican activists who waited outside Mimi’s restaurant in Fresno’s River Park shopping center to greet Giuliani, who is making a swing through the Valley after addressing the state Republican convention in Sacramento over the weekend.

So, is California becoming “Rudy Country?”

You betcha……..

And the people like – ahem – love him………

After greeting diners at Mimi’s, Giuliani headed to the exclusive north Fresno home of Jerry and Paula DeYoung for a $2,100-per-person fundraiser. About 100 people attended. Today, he is scheduled to attend the opening ceremonies of the World Ag Expo in Tulare.

At Mimi’s, Giuliani spoke briefly to the media, saying the nation must win in Iraq. Whether the nation wins there or not, terrorism will continue, he said, but victory will carry with it advantages in the greater war against terrorists.

On immigration reform, Giuliani said safety and security for the nation top his list, but he also said a system needs to be established to supply workers to agriculture that also provides an avenue to citizenship.

Becoming a citizen should include learning English “so we have Americanization as part of immigration,” he said.

Showing up an hour late to Mimi’s, Giuliani shook hands and signed autographs before moving inside, where he mixed with surprised diners.

He started by sampling some of Fresno resident Donita Ghimenti’s blackened chicken quesadilla. Ghimenti, a Republican, said Giuliani has her vote.

“I love him,” she said.

Stay tuned……

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The Rudy Giuliani Files

A South Korean reads a newspaper reporting North Korea has agreed to nuclear disarmament in Seoul, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007. North Korea agreed Tuesday after arduous talks to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program, just four months after the communist state shocked the world by testing a nuclear bomb.

AP: N. Korea agrees to nuclear disarmament

North Korea agreed Tuesday after arduous talks to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program, just four months after the communist state shocked the world by testing a nuclear bomb.

The deal marks the first concrete plan for disarmament in more than three years of six-nation negotiations, and could potentially herald a new era of cooperation in the region with the North’s longtime foes — the United States and Japan — also agreeing to discuss normalizing relations with Pyongyang.

Under the deal, the North will receive initial aid equal to 50,000 tons heavy fuel oil within 60 days for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor and related facilities at Yongbyon, north of the capital, to be confirmed by international inspectors.

For irreversibly disabling the reactor and declaring all nuclear programs, the North will eventually receive another 950,000 tons in aid.

The agreement was read to all delegates in a conference room at a Chinese state guesthouse and Chinese envoy Wu Dawei asked if there were any objections. When none were made, the officials all stood and applauded.

North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Kwan (L) and U.S. envoy Christopher Hill head for the closing ceremony of the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme, in Beijing February 13, 2007. North Korea agreed to take steps towards nuclear disarmament under a groundbreaking deal struck on Tuesday that will bring the impoverished communist state more than $300 million worth of aid. Under the agreement, which was reached by six countries in Beijing after nearly a week of talks, Pyongyang will freeze the reactor at the heart of its nuclear programme and allow international inspections of the site.

Good News for America and Kudos to the Bush Administration.

No nukes for Libya and now no nukes for the Korean Peninsula. However, remember TRUST BUT VERIFY.

Flap cannot help but think that this had some leverage in the negotiations.

Stay tuned……

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North Korea Watch: North Korea Tentatively Agrees to Nuclear Disarmament

Iran Nuclear Watch: North Korea Helping Iran With Nuclear Testing

North Korea Watch: North Korea Wants United Nations Sanctions Lifted

North Korea Watch: Bush Warns North Korea – “Don’t Transfer Nukes”

North Korea Watch: A Return to 6 Party Talks – A Diplomatic Win for President Bush

North Korea Watch: Pyongyang Threatens War Against South Korea

North Korea Watch: Kim Jong-Il REGRETS Nuclear Test

North Korea Nuclear Watch: President Bush – United States WILL Stop North Korean Nuclear Transfers

North Korea Nuclear Watch: Condoleezza Rice Promises United States Defense of Japan

Cox & Forkum: Rudy Giuliani

The Boston Globe: Giuliani gets warm reception in Calif..

Rudy Giuliani went west over the weekend to learn whether his brand of Republican politics had a chance among party members significantly more conservative than he . By the time he had received a fourth standing ovation Saturday at the California Republican Party convention, the answer seemed clear.

Comparing the US fight against terrorism to the Civil War and the Cold War, Giuliani told about 750 of his party’s faithful that failure in Iraq would turn that country into a “massive headquarters for terrorism.”

“Having had a job where I didn’t have any choice but to make a decision,” said the former mayor of New York, “prepares you as best you can be prepared to be the president of the United States.”

Asked in a subsequent news conference when he would formally announce his candidacy for president, Giuliani quipped, “If you go back to my speech, I think you’ll find one. We’ll figure out how to do it in five places so we’ll get more attention.”

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The Cox & Forkum files

From left, Emily Robison, Natalie Maines and Martie Maguire

Los Angeles Times: Dude, It’s Called Political Payback

Possibly.

The music is too damn good – like Flap said the first time.

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