Giuliani and Clinton Still the Front-Runners
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Even though the 2008 Presidential election is still 20 months away, and the majority party nominations won't happen for at least another 17 months, the campaign season is in full swing. At this early stage, Rudy Giuliani comfortably leads the pack for the Republican nod, outpacing his closest competitor by more than 20 points, while Hillary Clinton finds her lead narrowing slightly.
A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds the former New York City mayor with support from 55% of Republicans, while Senator John McCain (R-AZ) clocks in with 34%, in a head-to-head race. The telephone poll of 1,007 adults also found that Senator Hillary Clinton remains in the lead for the Democratic Party nomination, garnering 47% of her party's vote, compared to 39% for the upstart Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.
The poll found that, despite the unprecedented early start to the presidential campaign, the American public is remarkably interested in the process, with 73% of those polled following the race "very closely" or "somewhat closely." In comparison, the same percentage (47%) of adults were following the 2000 presidential race "somewhat closely" in October of that year, one month before the election, as are following the 2008 election almost two years from now.
For Giuliani's campaign, the poll results may come as welcome news, albeit news to be greeted cautiously. The poll comes on the heels of the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Washington, D.C., from which Mitt Romney emerged as the winner of the unscientific straw poll drawing 21% of the vote, while Giuliani came in second with 17%. It is generally acknowledged that the straw poll gives a better indication of whose campaign is better organized, rather than who is leading in the nomination process.
The CPAC event also generated some controversy over the remarks of invited speaker, and conservative darling, Ann Coulter, who hurled school-yard epithets at Democratic contender John Edwards. Although some attendees cheered Coulter's taunts, a number of conservatives have distanced themselves from her comments in the aftermath. However, Giuliani's closest competitor, John McCain, did not participate in CPAC, and therefore may have been spared some guilt by association.
In the other nomination race, Hillary Clinton finds herself unable to shake the Democratic voters' fascination with Barack Obama. Both candidates made a campaign stop in Selma, Alabama to help celebrate the forty-second anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," an important milestone in the history of the Civil Rights movement. According to local reporter Lucinda Coulter, Obama generated a significantly larger crowd, and a more enthisiastic response than the New York Senator: "[Democratic Congressman John] Lewis went to church with Obama, as did the overwhelming majority of the crowd. The smaller group huddled outside First Baptist Church, where Clinton spoke, grew smaller as the morning wore on."
That response reflects Obama's steady gains in the polls against Clinton. Whereas Clinton maintained an RCP average lead of 10.8% as of March 4, the latest poll shows her lead narrowing to only 8 points (in a head-to-head matchup).
A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds the former New York City mayor with support from 55% of Republicans, while Senator John McCain (R-AZ) clocks in with 34%, in a head-to-head race. The telephone poll of 1,007 adults also found that Senator Hillary Clinton remains in the lead for the Democratic Party nomination, garnering 47% of her party's vote, compared to 39% for the upstart Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.
The poll found that, despite the unprecedented early start to the presidential campaign, the American public is remarkably interested in the process, with 73% of those polled following the race "very closely" or "somewhat closely." In comparison, the same percentage (47%) of adults were following the 2000 presidential race "somewhat closely" in October of that year, one month before the election, as are following the 2008 election almost two years from now.
For Giuliani's campaign, the poll results may come as welcome news, albeit news to be greeted cautiously. The poll comes on the heels of the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Washington, D.C., from which Mitt Romney emerged as the winner of the unscientific straw poll drawing 21% of the vote, while Giuliani came in second with 17%. It is generally acknowledged that the straw poll gives a better indication of whose campaign is better organized, rather than who is leading in the nomination process.
The CPAC event also generated some controversy over the remarks of invited speaker, and conservative darling, Ann Coulter, who hurled school-yard epithets at Democratic contender John Edwards. Although some attendees cheered Coulter's taunts, a number of conservatives have distanced themselves from her comments in the aftermath. However, Giuliani's closest competitor, John McCain, did not participate in CPAC, and therefore may have been spared some guilt by association.
In the other nomination race, Hillary Clinton finds herself unable to shake the Democratic voters' fascination with Barack Obama. Both candidates made a campaign stop in Selma, Alabama to help celebrate the forty-second anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," an important milestone in the history of the Civil Rights movement. According to local reporter Lucinda Coulter, Obama generated a significantly larger crowd, and a more enthisiastic response than the New York Senator: "[Democratic Congressman John] Lewis went to church with Obama, as did the overwhelming majority of the crowd. The smaller group huddled outside First Baptist Church, where Clinton spoke, grew smaller as the morning wore on."
That response reflects Obama's steady gains in the polls against Clinton. Whereas Clinton maintained an RCP average lead of 10.8% as of March 4, the latest poll shows her lead narrowing to only 8 points (in a head-to-head matchup).
