In Surge, Giuliani Now Tops Clinton by Seven Points

[GaryC 7]

Thursday, August 16, 2007

After being virtually tied with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for several months, Republican contender Rudy Giuliani now leads Clinton up 47% to 40% in the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

In the match-up of the frontrunners, this result marks a significant shift. For the last three months the two frontrunners have never been further apart than three percentage points. Last month, Giuliani and Clinton were separated by just a single point.

Senator Clinton fares modestly better against former Senator Fred Thompson. Clinton now has a three point edge over him, 46% to 43%. All four previous Clinton-Thomas have also been toss-ups.

Rasmussen Reports has recently released match-ups between Clinton and the leading GOP candidates in Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Oregon, and New Hampshire. Over the coming weeks, we will release data for other potential battleground states.

Democratic Senators John Edwards and Barack Obama have often done better than Clinton in match-ups with Giuliani. But recent polls show the former mayor improving against these adversaries as well.

The slide in Mayor Giuliani's favorable rating seems to have bottomed out for now. After hitting a low of 50% favorable for two weeks in a row, he's now viewed favorably by 52%. Thompson is viewed favorably by 43%, bringing him back up to where he was in late July.

In contrast, Clinton's favorable numbers have dropped a bit. She is now viewed favorably by 45%. That’s the first time all year her ratings have dipped below the 47% mark. Clinton's unfavorables have always been high and are currently at 52%.

Despite rough patches in their presidential bids, both Clinton and Giuliani are currently leading their respective nomination races—Clinton more comfortably so, however.

Clinton is still the default Democratic candidate. And the GOP race still looks much more fluid. Thompson surged to frontrunner status for a while and now only narrowly lags behind Giuliani, and a lot still depends on how Thompson fares once he fully plunges into the race. Meanwhile, third-ranking former Governor Mitt Romney seems to have gotten a boost from his "win" of the Iowa straw poll.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_con...by_seven_points