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The New York Sun: Thompson Takes Bites Out of Giuliani, Romney.

The latest USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, on the presidential race is out, and it’s a humdinger. It’s hard to say what the headline even is. Here are a few tries, though:

* Romney’s support drops to within the margin of error of not existing (that’s 3% support in a poll where the margin of error is 3%).

* Giuliani’s support drops 13 percentage points since the last USA Today/ Gallup poll, March 2-4 (that’s gotta hurt).

* Fred Thompson (not running, by the way) is now the No. 3 in the GOP field, at 12%.
Emphasis Cox & Forkum

CBS News: Possible Fred Thompson Candidacy Animates Conservatives.

The possibility that former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee might run for president has animated many conservative leaders who are unhappy with the GOP choices that exist now.They consider Thompson a strong conservative with stellar communications skills and an interesting resume that includes success and fame as a movie and TV actor. All this reminds many of Ronald Reagan, an icon of the right.

“Fred says he might run and he would be a real threat for the Republican nomination,” says a prominent conservative who is neutral in the presidential race so far. The problem: Is Thompson willing to devote the time and energy needed for a run?

So, has Rudy maxed out, Romney died and McCain stopped the bleeding?

Will the conservative White Knight of Fred Thompson move into the arena?

Possibly

A most probable analysis except – Can Thompson beat Hillary?

The Join Rudy Web site at 6:18 PM PDT

AP: Giuliani campaign fixes Web site flaw

Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani’s campaign hurriedly fixed its official Web site late Monday to remove a dangerous design flaw that could have allowed hackers to expose personal information submitted by volunteers.

The vulnerability affecting Giuliani’s site, http://www.JoinRudy2008.com, could have exposed confidential information stored in the campaign’s databases. The Web site failed to block commands that can instruct it to improperly display sensitive information, a popular hacking technique known as “structured query language injection.”

The campaign fixed the Web site hours after The Associated Press notified it about the problem. No personal information was compromised, spokeswoman Maria Comella said.

“The site has multiple levels of security to detect intrusions and ensure no user’s identity was put at risk,” Comella said.

Oops……but it seems the site has not been put back together.

Remember this is not the first time the Giuliani campaign has had a breach of campaign security.

And with the FLAP that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger underwent when candid tape recordings were poached from his government web site, one would think that the site designers would be especially viligant in protecting the donor database.

The campaign launched its new site last week. Giuliani described it in e-mails as “the place where any American can go to learn about my record and join our campaign” and urged supporters to tell their friends about the site.

Its privacy policy reassures Internet visitors that the Giuliani campaign “considers your privacy paramount, and we are dedicated to protecting your privacy on the Internet.”

SQL injection vulnerabilities have been implicated in large-scale Web break-ins. The technique is among the most-critical Internet security vulnerabilities compiled by the SANS Institute, a cybersecurity research organization, and is the subject of warnings by the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, part of the
Homeland Security Department.

“Anybody who knows anything about security could have found these problems in two seconds,” said Marc Maiffret of eEye Digital Security Inc., a researcher who examined Giuliani’s Web site at AP’s request.

The Original Web Site

Well, somebody in the Giuliani campaign is reworking the site.

How about a redesign too while you are at it?

Previous:

The Rudy Giuliani Files

Iran Watch: Captured Brits – Show Trial or Bluff?

Iran Watch: Iran May Charge British Sailors

Iran Watch: Iran to Try Brits for Spying?

Iran Watch: British Troops Transported To Tehran

Iran Watch: Are Seized British Troops Hostages?

Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad Cancels United Nations Appearance

Iran Watch: Iran Seizes British Sailors in Iraq Waters

Previous:

The Michael Ramirez Files

On the Republican side, former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson shook up the field with his announcement that he would consider getting into the presidential race. Thompson is familiar as the actor who plays District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s Law and Order.

Chosen by 12% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, Thompson is third in the Republican field. He trails former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, at 31%, and Arizona Sen. John McCain, at 22%. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is at 8%.

Thompson’s support seems to come largely from voters who had supported Giuliani. In the USA TODAY poll taken March 2-4, Giuliani’s standing had been 13 percentage points higher, at 44%. McCain’s support had been 2 points lower then.

Backing for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, widely considered a leading contender, has dropped. He was chosen by 3%, the same as Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. Romney’s support in early March had been 8%.

Rudy is declining, McCain is going nowhere, Romney appears dead in the water and Fred Thompson gets 12% without even declaring for President.

This is the second set of polls that show that Thompson erodes Rudy’s voter appeal.

How will the field compete against a non-candidate?

Previous:

The Rudy Giuliani Files

British hostages paraded in Iran on TV in 2004

Iranians interrogate captured Royal Marines

The 15 Royal Marines and sailors captured by Iran are being “interrogated”, officials in Tehran said today.

Amid fears that the 14 men and one woman face a show trial, Iranian television reported that the country did not want to exchange the Britons for five Iranians arrested in northern Iraq two months ago.

How do you spell “BARGAINING CHIP?”

British marines patrolling aboard an inflatable off Basra

Previous:

Iran Watch: Iran May Charge British Sailors

Iran Watch: Iran to Try Brits for Spying?

Iran Watch: British Troops Transported To Tehran

Iran Watch: Are Seized British Troops Hostages?

Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad Cancels United Nations Appearance

Iran Watch: Iran Seizes British Sailors in Iraq Waters

McCain Offers Blogger Access

A very smart move by the McCain campaign.

You can read about the New Hampshire coverage here, here and here.

How about Rudy and Mitt?

Open up your fundraisers, schedule more public events and don’t play favorites with certain bloggers.

Previous:

John McCain Watch: McCain Won’t Meet Fundraising Goals

John McCain Watch: The ANSWER ? to McCain Blames Club for Growth for Loss of Senate Majority

John McCain Watch: McCain Blames Club for Growth for Loss of Senate Majority

John McCain Watch: Age and Health Questions Plague McCain

John McCain Watch: I’ll Close GITMO

Technorati Tags: JohnMcCain, RudyGiuliani, MittRomney

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., steps off his campaign bus after arriving at the Iowa Statehouse before speaking to Iowa legislators in Des Moines, Iowa in this March 15, 2007 file photo. Aboard his campaign bus, the Arizona Republican entertains reporters with stories, answers their questions and heckles bloggers. But the level of exposure comes with a risk, McCain acknowledges, and plenty of apprehension for aides who at times have to cue him to stop. He doesn’t always listen.

Early primaries to trim field

The S.C. GOP has set a tentative date of Saturday, Feb. 2, for its presidential primary early next year. But that could change.

With the crush of candidates and early start to the 2008 presidential campaign, South Carolina has no choice but to leapfrog over everyone else to preserve the state’s traditional role in selecting the next Republican presidential nominee.

Under state law, political parties have the authority and flexibility to pick a primary date. The deadline for submitting a plan to the Republican National Committee is Sept. 4.

“We will change our date as often as we have to to remain the first-in-the-South primary,” vowed state Republican Party chairman Katon Dawson.

“We have a proud eight-year history when it comes to selecting our nominee,” Dawson said. “We’re determined to protect it,” even if that means pushing the primary up to October.

“That’ll be our trick-or-treat,” Dawson quipped.

Wow, an October 2007 Presidential primary election? This may change the dynamic of the race.

Advantage: McCain