Florida becomes even more significant with an early primary on the same day as South Carolina.
Non-candidates Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich pull out front in the Georgia state GOP straw poll. Thompson doesn't just win the poll, he dominates it, with a decidedly un-Giulianiesque 44 percent (Rudy tends to win his polls with numbers in the thirties, or more recently, the twenties...) Here's the breakdown:
The poll was jointly conducted by the Young Republicans and the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia.
The results were as follows:
Fred Thompson — 188 votes, or 44 percent
Newt Gingrich — 77, or 18 percent
Rudy Giuliani — 64, or 15 percent
Mitt Romney — 40, or 9 percent
Mike Huckabee — 18, or 4 percent
Duncan Hunter — 10, or 2.3 percent
John McCain — 10, or 2.3 percent
Ron Paul — 8, or 1.9 percent
Tommy Thompson — 6, or 1.4 percent
Tom Tancredo — 4, or .9 percent
Sam Brownback — 2, or .5 percent
John Cox — 2, or .5 percent
Jim Gilmore — 0, or 0 percent Meanwhile, in Iowa, a new Desmoines Register poll shows a surprise leader far, far away ahead of the caucuses:
The Des Moines Register poll shows Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, is the top choice of 30 percent of those who say they definitely or probably will attend the leadoff Iowa caucuses in January.
McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, nips former New York Mayor Giuliani for second place — 18 percent to 17 percent. The breakdown here is as follows:
Mitt Romney - 30%
John McCain - 18%
Rudy Giuliani - 17%
Tommy Thompson - 7%
Sam Brownback - 5%
Mike Huckabee - 4%
Tom Tancredo - 4%
John Cox - 1%
Jim Gilmore - 1%
Duncan Hunter - 1%
Ron Paul - --
Not sure/uncommitted - 12% Three big trends I'm seeing here: Romney's advertising push, his debate performances and his overall Guy Smileyness are starting to resonate outside of Utah. Second, McCain is showing surprising staying power (though these polls were taken pre-immigration "reform" debacle. Third: Giuliani -- balloon -- leaky.
Labels: 2008 election, elections, news and politics, politics, presidential candidates, Republicans |
