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Poll Watch: ARG GOP National Primary

ARG GOP National Primary

Rudy Giuliani 24% (27%)

Fred Thompson 23% (16%)

John McCain 14% (13%)

Mitt Romney 9% (16%)

Newt Gingrich 6% (7%)

Mike Huckabee 4% (3%)

Undecided 15% (14%)

Among Men

Fred Thompson 37%

Rudy Giuliani 17%

Newt Gingrich 9%

John McCain 7%

Mitt Romney 5%

Mike Huckabee 4%

Among Women

Rudy Giuliani 31%

John McCain 22%

Mitt Romney 13%

Fred Thompson 7%

Mike Huckabee 4%

Newt Gingrich 2%

Among Independents saying they will definitely vote in a Republican primary or caucus in 2008

Rudy Giuliani 38%

Fred Thompson 25%

John McCain 16%

Mitt Romney 3%

Newt Gingrich 2%

Mike Huckabee 0%

Survey of 600 likely Republican primary voters was conducted September 9-12. The margin of error is +/- 4 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted in August are in parentheses.

by Aron Goldman @ 8:20 pm. Filed under Poll Watch

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Rudy Takes On Hillary and the Times

From the A.P.:

Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani on Thursday accused Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton of participating in “character assassination” for questioning Gen. David Petraeus about his assessment of progress in Iraq.

Clinton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was one of several Democrats and some Republicans who expressed skepticism with President Bush’s top military general’s more positive outlook on Iraq than recent independent reviews.

Campaigning in Georgia, Giuliani assailed Clinton for the second straight day and tried to link her to a newspaper ad from the liberal anti-war group MoveOn critical of Petraeus. The ad accused Petraeus of “cooking the books” for the White House. “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?” it asked, playing off his name.

“We believe unlike Hillary Clinton that General Petraeus is telling the truth,” Giuliani said.

Calling the ad abominable, Giuliani said Clinton’s comments followed up on it “in a very, very coincidental way.”

He added, “What I don’t think should happen in political discourse is the kind of character assassination that MoveOn.org participated in in calling him General Betray Us, that The New York Times gave them a discount to do and that Hillary Clinton followed up on with an attack on his integrity.”

He also said, “It is time for Americans to really insist that American politicians move beyond character assassination and this is exactly what they attempted to do with General Petraeus.”

“Maybe you can disagree with his tactics,” Giuliani said of Petraeus. “I agree with them, but you have no right to disagree with his integrity.”

Click here to see Rudy’s full size ad.

Click here to listen to Rudy demand that the New York Times sell him a full-page ad for the same discounted rate that they charged Moveon.org to run their smear attack against Gen. Petreaus.

On the campaign trail yesterday, Hizzoner channeled The Gipper when asked about the final resolution of the GWOT, and challenged Sen. Clinton on her statements regarding Petreaus:

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday there is only one acceptable outcome to the war on terror, lifting a quote from Ronald Reagan.

”They lose, we win,” the former New York mayor said to loud applause after a campaign swing that took him to four states in a day.

Reagan may have been referring to the Cold War when he made the statement in the 1980s, but the result needed for the war on terror is the same, Giuliani said.

Giuliani stopped for 30 minutes in this state (SC) with an early primary, visiting a country restaurant called the Squat ‘N’ Gobble …

More than 120 people jammed the restaurant, which seats about 60. Some stood on chairs with cell phones to snap pictures of the former mayor. The crowd started chanting ”Rudy, Rudy, Rudy” as Giuliani stood on a chair near the kitchen to speak. …

As he had at earlier stops, Giuliani denounced Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for challenging the Capitol Hill testimony of the top U.S. military commander in Iraq .

”Hillary Clinton, questioning Gen. (David) Petraeus, said you had to suspend disbelief,” Giuliani said after a brief campaign stop at an Akron , Ohio , restaurant earlier in the day.

”Why would you say that about an American general?” Giuliani asked. …

On a personal note, let me just say that I am as inspired by Mayor Giuliani’s statements on the War as I am leery of eating in a restaurant called the, “Squat ‘N Gobble.” Perhaps Gamecock has eaten there and can set the record straight?

by Kavon W. Nikrad @ 6:17 pm. Filed under Rudy Giuliani

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Question of the Day…

A total of three U.S. Presidents have been married during their time in office. Name them in the comments.

The first person to answer correctly in the comments wins $50 (minus a $50 shipping and handling fee).

Also, please consider this an open thread. Fire away!

by Kavon W. Nikrad @ 4:57 pm. Filed under Presidential History

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Rightroots Relaunch

Just a reminder folks!…

ABC PAC has announced the launch of Rightroots by ABC PAC, a new on-line donation website for contributions to Republican candidates for federal office.

Rightroots by ABC PAC is a one-stop resource to contribute to Republican candidates for federal office. Rightroots is the answer for those in the conservative community online who have been clamoring for a Republican counter to the Democrats who have, so far, out raised Republicans on the Internet.

Rightroots is going to be adding additional functionality including the ability for users to create slates of candidates and “widgets” for placement on blogs.

Improvement in conservative online fundraising will be critical in an election where the Democrats will outraise Republicans by more than a hundred millions dollars.

Bookmark Rightroots and donate often if you care about the future of the American Conservative Movement!

by Kavon W. Nikrad @ 4:46 pm. Filed under Announcements

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Poll Watch: Fox News/Opinion Dynamics GOP National Primary

Fox News/Opinion Dynamics GOP National Primary

Rudy Giuliani 34% (30%)

Fred Thompson 22% (15%)

John McCain 16% (7%)

Mitt Romney 8% (12%)

Duncan Hunter 3% (0%)

Mike Huckabee 2% (3%)

Ron Paul 2% (3%)

Second Choice

Fred Thompson 19%

John McCain 18%

Rudy Giuliani 15%

Mitt Romney 11%

Mike Huckabee 5%

Newt Gingrich 4%

Duncan Hunter 3%

If Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson were the only choices in the Republican primary:

Among Republicans

Rudy Giuliani 51%

Fred Thompson 43%

Among Independents

Rudy Giuliani 52%

Fred Thompson 34%

Favorable / Unfavorable (Net)

Rudy Giuliani 72% / 17% (+55%)

John McCain 61% / 20% (+41%)

Fred Thompson 48% / 13% (+35%)

Mitt Romney 37% / 20% (+17%)

Survey of 297 registered Republicans was conducted September 11-12. The margin of error is +/- 6 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted August 21-22 are in parentheses.

If the United States were to get hit with another terrorist attack, would you feel more comfortable with Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani as president?

Rudy Giuliani 50%

Hillary Clinton 36%

Which of the following best describes how you feel about voting for Hillary Clinton?

I would definitely vote for her for president 39%

I would never vote for her for president 42%

Which of the following best describes how you feel about voting for Rudy Giuliani?

I would definitely vote for him for president 36%

I would never vote for him for president 34%

Survey of 900 registered voters was conducted September 11-12. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.

by Aron Goldman @ 2:48 pm. Filed under Poll Watch

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Poll Alert: Rasmussen Daily Tracker 9/13

Some startling results from today. Is McCain Back?

Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll, GOP Nomination – 9/13

Fred Thompson 28%

Rudy Giuliani 19%

John McCain 13%

Mitt Romney 10%

Mike Huckabee 5%

Daily tracking results are from survey interviews conducted over four days ending last night. Each update includes approximately 600-650 Likely Republican Primary Voters. Margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

by Tommy Oliver @ 10:32 am. Filed under Poll Watch

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Pundits Souring on Thompson?

If this seems like a hit piece on Thompson… I apologize in advance. Just note… I’m not doing the hitting… I’m just the librarian.

First, from CBN’s David Brody. After noting that Thompson simply misspoke. claiming that no state legislatures had approved gay marriage (California has just this last week), Brody questions aloud:

[Thompson will] take some heat for that but the larger issue for social conservatives may be this: If California start to have legislatures endorse gay marriage and have a liberal Governor sign it into law then what Thompson is saying is that he’ll live with that because it didn’t come from an unelected judge but rather elected representatives. How will that go over with conservative pro-family groups?

Now from a largely pro-Fred camp, Erik E from Redstate has this to say about Fred’s campaign and their faux pas using “Osama” and “due process” in the same sentence:

One would hope that on the fundamental, driving issue of national security — the issue that is driving so many as we head toward 2008 — having to backtrack on the very basic issue of what to do with Osama would be unnecessary.

The first Thompson statement was a tacit endorsement of the Clinton policy this nation repudiated after September 11th.

And at this stage in the game, even Hillary Clinton has answered more competently on that subject that the Thompson campaign’s first stab at it.

That the campaign required a second stab at that basic question makes me shudder with disbelief.

Next from the Washington Post with George Will:

Fred Thompson’s plunge into the presidential pool — more belly-flop than swan dive — was the strangest product launch since that of New Coke in 1985. Then, the question was: Is this product necessary? A similar question stumped Thompson the day he plunged.

…

“Right now”? He has been living “up there” in that upscale inside-the-Beltway Washington suburb, honing his “Aw, shucks, I’m just an ol’ Washington outsider” act, for years. Long enough to have noticed that McLean is planted thick with churches. Going to church is, of course, optional — unless you are aiming to fill some supposed piety void in the Republican field.

New Coke was announced on April 23, 1985, with the company’s president piling on adjectives usually reserved for Lafite Rothschild — “smoother, rounder yet bolder.” Almost 80 days later, the public having sampled it, the company pulled the product from stores. Perhaps Thompson’s candidacy will last longer than New Coke did.

Next up, Paul Weyrich from Townhall.com:

It is not entirely clear what Thompson believes. When he was Senator he seemed to support an open-borders approach to immigration. In recent speeches Thompson has not supported President George W. Bush’s comprehensive immigration reform bill, which was soundly defeated.

…

If the Thompson balloon were launched high but then returned to earth, with Thompson falling behind other candidates, that would mean the several-month tease in the form of his exploratory committee would have been for naught.

Lastly, Gail Collines from the NYT:

When it comes to overhyped underperformers, Fred Thompson’s entry into the presidential race was right up there with Britney Spears at the MTV awards.

The Republican Party’s great tall hope announced his intentions on Jay Leno’s show, and timed it to coincide with his avoidance of the candidate debate in New Hampshire. That was supposed to send the message of – what? A fear of crowds? A preference for answering questions only while seated? His performance certainly could not have been more low-key. You do not often hear somebody say “I’m running for president” in the same tone Jay’s guests use to announce that they’ve signed on for the next season of “Dancing With the Stars.”

by Justin Hart @ 9:59 am. Filed under Fred Thompson

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Poll Watch: NBC News/Wall Street Journal GOP National Primary

NBC/WSJ GOP National Primary

Rudy Giuliani 32% (33%)

Fred Thompson 26% (20%)

John McCain 14% (17%)

Mitt Romney 11% (11%)

Mike Huckabee 4% (1%)

Not sure 6% (7%)

Assume for a moment that a Republican wins the 2008 general election, which of the following Republican
candidates would you be most comfortable with as president?

Among Democrats

Rudy Giuliani 26%

John McCain 26%

Fred Thompson 16%

Mitt Romney 9%

Among Independents

Rudy Giuliani 28%

Fred Thompson 24%

John McCain 20%

Mitt Romney 8%

Assume for a moment that a Democrat wins the 2008 general election, which of the following Democratic
candidates would you be most comfortable with as president?

Among Republicans

Barack Obama 26%

Bill Richardson 23%

John Edwards 20%

Hillary Clinton 14%

Among Independents

Hillary Clinton 29%

Barack Obama 25%

John Edwards 22%

Bill Richardson 11%

Survey of 1,002 adults was conducted September 7-10. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted in July are in parentheses. The number of respondents who said they are a Republican or that they would vote in the Republican primary was not disclosed. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was not included in this survey.