Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani now has a double-digit lead over Arizona Sen. John McCain, leading the once media-dubbed "front-runner" 34 percent to 18 percent according to the latest CNN/Opinion Research poll.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are each tied at nine percent in the poll, which was taken before former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson announced Sunday that he is giving serious consideration to entering the presidential race. (The "Thompson" listed on the poll at 1 percent is former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.)
While McCain's support among Republicans fell 8 percentage points since January, Giuliani's rose only 2 points, while Gingrich, who says he won't decide if he's running until the fall, also gained 2 points. What does that mean? It means that Republican voters are dumping McCain but they aren't sold on Giuliani, haven't warmed up to Romney, and aren't much interested in the rest of the field.
What it really means is the door is wide open for Fred Thompson. The next edition of the CNN/Opinion Research poll and other presidential race polls will no doubt include Thompson and, I predict, provide results that will alter the media's and public's perception of the race and perhaps even lead to a rapid thinning of the herd.
Even before those polls, however, McCain looks to be toast.
» What If The Right Said Fred? from ElephantBiz
LOTS OF UPDATES AT THE END OF THIS POST... Those rumors about Fred Thompson running for president just won't go away. Paul Bedard mentions it in the latest U.S. News:We hear that his buddies are strongly urging him to jump into... [Read More]
Tracked on: March 13, 2007 9:52 AM | Permalink to Trackback