There’s yet more good news for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, according to the latest Gallup Poll:
With the 2008 Republican presidential field beginning to come into shape, there are still questions and apparent opportunities for a favorite “conservative” candidate to emerge. The three leading announced contenders — Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney — have taken stances in the past that are out of step, if not unpopular, with conservative voters, although all have taken recent steps to try to reassure conservatives. The key question is whether conservatives will be able to look past any differences they may have with these candidates and support one of them for the nomination — or hope that a more solidly conservative candidate emerges from the back of the pack or enters the race.
An analysis of Republicans’ primary nomination preferences in recent Gallup Polls show that while conservative Republicans are less likely to support Rudy Giuliani than liberal or moderate Republicans, the former New York City mayor is the clear leader among both groups. John McCain, who is in second among both groups, also fares slightly better among moderates than conservatives. Though well behind the two leaders, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are much more likely to be supported by conservatives than moderates and liberals. At the same time, conservative and moderate Republicans’ basic favorable ratings of Giuliani are highly positive and similar between the two groups, as are their ratings of McCain. Romney’s favorable ratings are better among conservatives than moderate and liberal Republicans.
And Giuliani’s margin over the other candidates is impressive as well. This means Giuliani is going to be challenged vigorously for support among Conservative GOPers. It could be a brutal campaign…
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.