The latest USA Today poll has Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mike Huckabee all gaining while Mitt Romney falls 4%. Fred Thompson only gained 3% in this poll taken over the weekend, the first since he announced he's a candidate. Pretty modest numbers for a new candidate. The numbers also suggest as I noted earlier that McCain is indeed back in the race and must now be repositioned back into the top tier.
However, the latest Rasmussen poll shows Thompson leading Giuliani 26% to 22% meaning Fred took some votes from America's Mayor. The Rasmussen poll has historically had Giuliani closer to the field than others so no great change. That's a four point jump for Thompson, not a significant leap but something he may be able to build on.
With regard to Fred Thompson, I expected to see at least an 8-10 point surge after his announcement, but his long, drawn out pre-campaign nullified any great bump. The numbers I find intriguiging for Thompson is the high percentage who don't know him:
Thompson is significantly less well known than Giuliani or McCain - 28% of Republicans say they've never heard of Thompson, compared with 8% for Giuliani and 9% for McCain.
Among those Republicans who know all four leading contenders, Giuliani and Thompson are essentially tied. In a head-to-head race among all GOP voters, Giuliani bests Thompson by 13 points, 53%-40%.
How can 28% not know who Fred is? That says to me that he was not very effective in getting his name out over the summer, a major campaign flaw and unforgiveable for a candidate who has been on a top-rated show for a couple of years. Apparently, those who do know of Thompson like him as he is tied with Rudy in that category.
Ron Paul, Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo all posted the usual horrid numbers. It's surprising that Ron Paul hasn't broken 4% in any USA Today poll given his supposed clout in the race and his landslide victories in text and internet polls. I guess it doesn't translate to the real world.
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 2)
16. whoops: copnsucted = Conducted.
Kevin Houston at 11:44AM on Sep 11th 2007
17. Let"s get it straight the clean up of new york city was due to a program that started before that cross dressing guilliani,thanks to police commissioner bratton who in turn pit it in effect.most of my friends are lieutennats ext,tell your kids how much of a role model that wife chrater is,tell your kids it"s ok to cross dress so that they can be attacked by you know who,tell your kids and the rest of the world it"s ok to wed your own cousin,tell them it"s ok to be wed three times,tell them its"ok to cheat on your wife afew times.
America where is our morals,our true leaders are the guys that went into those buildings on 911,guilliani did what us engineers do on a yearly basis,fire dills,keep our tennants well informed.Evacuate if need to,What happened to those fire fighters that went into those buildings with radios that didn"t work should be a crime,Now that cross dresser used a tragedy for political and financial gain,He should be in jail.How did he put bernard kerick in charge of the largest police force?that guy didn"t have high school diploma or a college degree,That liar,cross dresser,cheater,opportunist,should be in jail.
gene w youance at 12:40PM on Sep 11th 2007
18. Thank you, Paul Sparcello, for your comments 9/11/07 about a bill to create a UN zone in our hospitals for illegal immigrants. What a great idea!
frfemme at 7:00PM on Sep 11th 2007
19. Trust me: Prior to Rudy Giuliani tenure as mayor of NYC it was a debt ridden, crime infested place. NYC was truly dangerous in most places. Rudy completely turned the city around working WITH Democrats. Today thanks to Rudy NYC is a safe clean place and unrecognizable from before his two terms as mayor, literally a different place.
His leadership following the horror of the 9/11 terrorist attacks was extrodinary. He expressed all of our feelings during this awful time perfect. He is a principled great leader who threw a 100 million dollar check back at the Saudi Govt following the attacks after they had insinuated we were to blame for the Horrors of 9/11.
If he can get things done in a big way in NYC it’s a very good bet he will be able to do the same in Washington as our President. Rudy is a crime fighter, financially responsible and most important a true leader.
fsgio at 11:32AM on Sep 16th 2007