According to Forbes and “folks close to” Bloomberg, anyway:

And this time it is for real. Folks close to New York City’s twice-elected mayor suggest that he’s made up his mind to end one of the city’s long-running rumors and become an Independent candidate for president.

The date of his announcement? Penciled in for right after Super Tuesday–Feb. 5.

This of course flies smack in the face of the countless denials that he would never run for President. But nobody cares about that (see Obama, Barack). The article goes on to mention Bloomberg is willing to spend over $2 billion of his personal fortune (up from the original $1 billion talked about earlier this year) to make a go of it.

Just when you thought it wasn’t possible, the race 4 2008 gets even more interesting…

Your typical Poli-Hack

hacks… The type of reporters that I can’t stand. You know the ones I’m talking about? The ones who think that with one swoop of the pen (or keyboard), they can shape public opinion to their own little view. The type of reporter usually writes some lame crap about a candidate, then snorts like Steve Urkel, and says to himself, “Boy, I’m so good.”

Case in point, Ole’ Rog at the politico:

In point of fact, the “silly” hat was the one Chief McKenzie wore to fires and I am guessing none of the firefighters in attendance considered it particularly silly, but Thompson was not going to put it on. He just stood there holding it and staring at it.

Well, today’s Hack award goes to Roger Simon of the Politico. Ole’ Rog, he just thought he was so smart, and boy, did he think he got a good one in on Fred. Well, Rog wasn’t bright enough to realize that the event he described in his hit piece was caught on video, and it seems that it doesn’t match Rog’s description.

Flopping Aces has this take:

Now if Fred screws up, I will call it. His video presentation at the debate a few weeks ago, I called him on it. Like the video but not the timing and said so. But this was no screw up. The video shows this and it also shows us that Roger may well consider being a bit more objective, as all professional writers should, and not letting his personal feelings for the candidate color his descriptions of events

Others noticed the apparent seperation from reality that ole’ Rog seems to be suffering from as well:

Jonathan Adler at the Corner on NRO:

Rich is correct that this piece from The Politico hits my guy pretty hard. My only problem with the piece is that Roger Simon’s description of Thompson’s firehouse visit does not square with the video.

However, it is not just the Fred supporters, like Adler, who notice the difference between the actual event and ole’ Rog’s description as well:

Rich Lowry at the Corner:

I agree with Adler. The video makes the whole thing seem absolutely fine.

So while supporters of other candidates have been quick to point out pundits like Matt Drudge’s apparent lack of objectivity, has Simon shown this type of attitiude when covering Fred? Apparently so.

From Stop the ACLU:

If you read this, and the initial reactions, it sounds like Fred hates firemen because he joked about not wearing “silly hats” when offered the fire chief’s hat. However, if you watch the actual video here, it was played just fine with lots of laughs. Maybe the hit piece had something to do with the writer, who has a history of not liking Fred that much.

At the end of the day, Ole’ Rog earns the middle finger of the day for his apparent lack of objectivity. Congratulations Rog!

UPDATE: ReihlWorldView uploaded the youtube video and posted an article entitled “What is Roger Simon’s Problem?”.

Here is Simon’s take:

... I am guessing none of the firefighters in attendance considered it particularly silly, but Thompson was not going to put it on. He just stood there holding it and staring at it.

Now, here is the youtube video of the event:

Ole’ Rog, you’ve got some splainin’ to do. I think we can take from this that Rog’s article was not exactly truthful…

If the Republican primary election for President was held today and you had to make a choice from this list of candidates, for whom would you vote…

(Definitely/Probably/Lean)

• Mike Huckabee 10% / 12% / 2%
• Rudy Giuliani 9% / 11% / 2%
• Mitt Romney 5% / 9% / 2%
• John McCain 5% / 9% / 1%
• Fred Thompson 3% / 5% / 1%
• Ron Paul 3% / 2% / 1%

General Election Match-Ups

(Definitely/Probably/Lean)

• Hillary Clinton 37% / 12% / 1%
• Rudy Giuliani 33% / 9% / 2%

• Barack Obama 31% / 14% / 1%
• Rudy Giuliani 28% / 13% / 2%

• Hillary Clinton 37% / 13% / 0%
• Mitt Romney 34% / 8% / 2%

• Barack Obama 32% / 14% / 2%
• Mitt Romney 25% / 15% / 2%

Survey of 1,000 registered likely voters was conducted December 9-12.

NBC News/Wall Street Journal GOP National Primary

• Rudy Giuliani 20% (33%)
• Mitt Romney 20% (11%)
• Mike Huckabee 17% (8%)
• John McCain 14% (16%)
• Fred Thompson 11% (15%)
• Ron Paul 4% (4%)
• Duncan Hunter 2% (2%)
• Tom Tancredo 1% (2%)
• Not Sure 9% (7%)

Survey was conducted December 14-17 and has a margin of error of +/- 5.2 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted November 1-5 are in parentheses.

General Election Match-Ups

• Hillary Clinton 46% (46%)
• Rudy Giuliani 43% (45%)

• Barack Obama 49% (44%)
• Rudy Giuliani 40% (42%)

• Hillary Clinton 46%
• Mike Huckabee 44%

• Barack Obama 48%
• Mike Huckabee 36%

Survey of 504 adults was conducted December 14-17. The margin of error is +/- 4.4 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted November 1-5 are in parentheses.

CBS GOP South Carolina Primary

• Mike Huckabee 28%
• Mitt Romney 20%
• Rudy Giuliani 12%
• John McCain 11%
• Fred Thompson 10%
• Ron Paul 3%
• Tom Tancredo 1%
• Undecided 10%

Regardless of how you intend to vote in 2008, which candidate do you think has the best chance of winning the general election in November?

• Rudy Giuliani 27%
• Mitt Romney 24%
• Mike Huckabee 19%
• John McCain 9%
• Fred Thompson 4%

What is your impression of the Mormon religion?

• Very/somewhat favorable 31%
• Very/somewhat unfavorable 39%
• Haven’t heard enough 30%

Unfavorable views of Mormonism rise to 51% among white evangelical voters.

Survey of 447 likely Republican primary voters was conducted December 13-17. The margin of error is +/- 5 percentage points.

Fox News and NBC report that Tom Tancredo will drop out of the race tomorrow, and he will likely endorse a candidate.

Most speculation suggests that he will endorse Fred Thompson.

However, Mitt Romney is apparently pushing hard for Tancredo’s backing too.

I’ve been looking over the 2006 Senate race polls that Rasmussen did right before the election. On average, they were 2-3% points off… but all in all they did a pretty good job calling the state level elections. My gut feeling tells me that Rass. polls are leading indicators and that other polls will start showing the same trends shortly in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Those trends are:

1. The Huckabust is indeed coming (don’t tell Abe)
2. Romney is holding well in New Hampshire and building strength in Iowa and
3. McCain is back.

I’ll churn out some New Hampshire details tomorrow. But here are the key points from the Iowa crosstabs:

• Huckabee lost 11% points since last week. Romney gained 4% and McCain 8%
• Gender breakdown: Oh, the fickle female race. Huck lost 20% points from women (McCain gained 13 of those in turn). Compare that to an 8% point loss from the male column for Huck. (Don’t show my wife this post )
• Age bracket: The young upstarts (18-29) are pretty settled on their choices now according to Rasmussen. But the 40-49 crowd are on the move, shedding themselves of Huck by 27% while 21% have hoped over to McCain. Huck lost 21% of the 50-64 crowd which dispersed across the entire crowd of folks.
• Political leanings: Wow! Did the full throttle hammering from the other candidates really work? Looks like it. Huck lost a whopping 38% of the conservative vote. Mitt actually wins this round by picking up 24% vs. McCain who picked up 14%.
• Married with kids: These folks abandoned Huck as well. 24% and 26% respetively. There must be something to this because the single / no kids demo didn’t move away from Huck hardly at all.
• $$$. Huck lost double digit % points in almost all the wealth brackets. Once again, McCain and Romney traded gains from these groups.
• Religion. OK. Drumroll please…. Evangelical Christians matched the Conservative demo and left Huckbee by 35%. Yikes.
• People are generally fickle as well. 25% of those who said they were certainly going to vote for Huckabee changed their minds. Note this. Mitt now leads the “certain” pack with 32% of people indicating they are staying put. Compare that to Huck with 16% and McCain with 17% certainty.

Bottom line. Remember those religious women having trouble deciding who to vote for and taking a hard look at Huckabee? They changed their mind. McCain is taking about half of the crowd leaving the Huck auditorium. Romney takes about 30% and the rest peter out among Ron Paul and Rudy.

McCain shows some real momentum and Romney has regained his former standing. Here’s McCain’s problem in Iowa… he needs Huckabee to absolutely bottom out before he can even meet Romney head to head. With Thompson’s King endorsement and newfound life this will be a fight.

Are we bored yet?

ABC/Washington Post Iowa GOP Caucus

• Mike Huckabee 35% (24%)
• Mitt Romney 27% (28%)
• Fred Thompson 9% (15%)
• Rudy Giuliani 8% (13%)
• Ron Paul 8% (6%)
• John McCain 6% (6%)

The poll was conducted by telephone Dec. 13 to 17, among a random sample of 501 Iowa adults likely to attend a Republican caucus on Jan. 3. The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.

This today from Governor Romney on Townhall.com.  Key paragraphs:

America’s President Deserves Thanks And Respect
By Governor Mitt Romney
December 19, 2007

“As Americans prepare for the holidays with their families and loved ones, we have many challenges to face but also many reasons to be thankful. We are thankful we live in a nation that is still a land of freedom, hope and opportunity. And we can be thankful that President Bush has kept us safe. Too often our politicians in Washington and on the campaign trail seem to have forgotten this simple fact.

“It was disheartening when Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) questioned the sworn testimony of General David Petraeus, the troop commander of our forces in Iraq, when he reported on the success of the surge. A disbelieving Senator Clinton said reports of progress require ‘the willing suspension of disbelief.’ We now know beyond any reasonable doubt that Senator Clinton was wrong and General Petraeus was right, and yet to this day she has refused to apologize for her unwarranted attack on the integrity of one of our finest soldiers. Even in my own party, Governor Mike Huckabee criticized President Bush by accusing him of ‘an arrogant bunker mentality’ in dealing with other nations around the world. Just like Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee has refused to apologize.”

…

“In the wake of 9/11, the President took unprecedented steps to keep us safe and defend Americans at home and abroad. We revamped our homeland security apparatus, passed new laws that allowed us to listen in when al-Qaeda was calling, cleared out terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and successfully toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein.

“Far from home, our soldiers, National Guard and Reserves, have overcome early strategic mistakes to make progress in Iraq that is both undeniable and should be welcomed by all. This progress has come as America’s heroes and their families have made unequalled sacrifices.”

…

“A half century ago, our mothers and fathers in the Greatest Generation came together to defeat fascism and communism, promote freedom and civil rights, and build a strong and prosperous country that is the envy of the world. They showed that there is no threat that a united America cannot defeat. By remembering their example, we can overcome the challenges that confront us.”

To read the full op-ed, see: http://www.townhall.com/

John Podhoretz fills us in:

At first blush, this seems like a genuinely great campaign ad – the story of how Mitt Romney basically closed down his business, Bain Capital, in 1996 when the daughter of one of his partners went missing in New York City and Romney sent dozens and finally hundreds of employees to New York to engage in a massive search through the streets for her. It was indeed a selfless and noble thing to do. However, the ad implies Melissa Gay had been kidnapped or something equally sinister, and that is not what happened. As a quick search of the New York Times and Boston Globe archives reveals, she went missing after she traveled to New York from Ridgefield, Conn., on her own, took Ecstasy at a concert on Randalls Island, ended up at a party under the Whitestone Bridge in The Bronx, met a boy there who took her to his house in New Jersey, and stayed with him for a few days, too embarrassed (I would wager) to call her parents and have them come get her. No charges were filed against the boy, which suggests her presence in his house was consensual. I’m sure it was a nightmarish time for her parents, and it was unquestionably was a noble thing Romney did to step in and direct the resources of his firm, including its employees, to search for her. But a) she wasn’t in need of “saving” in the way the ad’s narrative implies and b) there’s no evidence in the open record that the Bain Capital search, wonderfully well-intentioned, was responsible for Melissa’s safe return to her family.

“Holiday Wishes”

“Same Gift”

Jonathan Martin has the story. H/T to comment by Iowa.

While it might not seem like a big deal on the national level, Tancredo did have strong support in Iowa, especially over the summer. They were very active on the local level, and a poll of Iowa GOP leaders predicted he would come in 2nd in the straw poll in an informal survey conducted by Real Clear Politics in early August. He came in 4th with 14%, which was 1961 votes.

Immediately after the straw poll, Tancredo’s organization in Iowa seemed to fall apart, or that is at least what I perceived on the ground. So its unclear if his supporters already went to different camps or not.

UPDATE: Tancredo’s Iowa press secretary told the Des Moines Register that Tancredo has no scheduled campaign appearances scheduled following tomorrow’s announcement.

A clear difference is emerging among the GOP frontrunners as to their primary strategies, as any politico can tell you: Romney is focusing on the early states, McCain on New Hampshire, Giuliani on Florida and 2/5 states, Fred on Iowa/South Carolina, and Huckabee scattered in random locations. A review of the campaign schedules is a perfect picture of the stark contrasts among the campaigns.

In the past two three days:

• Romney – 11 campaign events: 2 in IA, 4 in NH, 5 in SC
• Thompson – 10 events: all in IA
• McCain – 8 events: all in NH
• Huckabee – 5 events: 2 in IA, 2 in TX, 1 in CA
• Giuliani – 4 events: 3 in MO, 1 in NH

In the past month:

• Romney – 49 events: 21 in IA, 18 in NH, 5 in SC, 2 in FL, 1 in ID, 1 in WA, 1 in TX
• McCain – 48 events: 21 in NH, 15 in SC, 6 in IA, 5 in FL, 1 in MA
• Huckabee – 41 events: 13 in NH, 8 in SC, 7 in IA, 4 in FL, 4 in TX, 3 in NC, 1 in VA, 1 in OH
• Thompson – 41 events: 17 in IA, 8 in SC, 4 in TN, 3 in CA, 2 in NH, 2 in MS, 2 in AZ, 1 in NV, 1 in OH, 1 in LA
• Giuliani – 40 events: 18 in NH, 7 in FL, 3 in MO, 3 in IA, 3 in IL, 2 in CA, 1 in TX, 1 in NC, 1 in SC, 1 in GA

You can clearly see Romney’s strategy: the early states, in order. Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida. You can see McCain is putting all his eggs in the New Hampshire basket and hoping for some momentum in South Carolina from there. Thompson’s numbers in Iowa almost all come from his recent bus tour through eastern Iowa with short stops at every town along the way – a tour he promises until the caucuses with a break for Christmas. Beyond that, many of his stops (4 in TN, 3 in CA, 2 in AZ, and 1 in NV — ten total) were fundraisers. Giuliani’s visits to New Hampshire were mostly earlier in the month before he cut back his campaign there; you can clearly see a FL-2/5 strategy with 7 visits to Florida and visits to Missouri, Illinois, California, Texas, and Georgia in there as well. And Huckabee is still trying to raise money also: every stop in TX, NC, and OH (eight total) was a fundraiser.

As contributor LJ once wrote here on R4′08, this campaign will make one hell of a book when it’s all over.

National Journal just published a nice interview with Senator Brownback today. Here are some interesting tidbits discussing his endorsement decision:

It came down to Huckabee and McCain:

NJ: What was the deciding factor for you to endorse Sen. John McCain?

Brownback: I looked and I thought about all the candidates a lot. I prayed about it, and for me it really came down to Mike Huckabee and John McCain. But I really felt that John was the one that could best compete and win ultimately in the fall of 2008.

I think he’s the most qualified person running now, ready to be president. He’s ready to be commander in chief. He has foreign policy experience. He’s a budget hawk, has been for a long time. He has a 20-year pro-life voting record. And he can perform in swing states. He can win in Florida. He can win in Missouri. He can win in Ohio. And we’ve got to have somebody that can perform in those states. So that’s why it came down to John for me.

On that meeting with Rudy:

NJ: Can you talk about your meeting with Rudy Giuliani shortly thereafter?

Brownback: It was a very good meeting, a very engaging gentleman. I thought their campaign particularly played it well. I said I’ll meet with anybody that wants to meet with me, and they were on it. And then I got a lot of pushback from people saying, “You’re not going to endorse Rudy Giuliani, are you?” And I didn’t, obviously.

But we had a very engaging meeting, and I ended the meeting with one of the press people saying, “Can you support and endorse a pro-choice candidate?” And I said “I don’t know that Mayor Giuliani would describe himself as a pro-choice candidate.” And I turned to the mayor, and he told me he was against federal funding of abortion, he would appoint strict constructionists to the judiciary — a number of things that wouldn’t be seen as a pro-choice position, particularly relative to Democrat pro-choice candidates. And he didn’t say one way or another, but to me, that was one of the striking pieces of the conversation — the number of issues we agreed upon on the narrow, specific issues surrounding the right-to-life issue.

SurveyUSA New Mexico Presidential Election

• Hillary Clinton 49% (47%)
• Rudy Giuliani 46% (48%)

• Rudy Giuliani 49%
• Barack Obama 44%

• Hillary Clinton 49% (49%)
• Mike Huckabee 45% (38%)

• Mike Huckabee 46%
• Barack Obama 45%

• Hillary Clinton 50% (49%)
• Mitt Romney 44% (42%)

• Mitt Romney 46%
• Barack Obama 44%

• John McCain 48% (50%)
• Hillary Clinton 45% (43%)

• John McCain 51%
• Barack Obama 40%

Survey of 523 registered voters was conducted December 13-15. The margin of error is +/- 4.4 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted October 12-14 are in parentheses.

SurveyUSA Washington State Presidential Election

• Hillary Clinton 52% (50%)
• Rudy Giuliani 43% (43%)

• Barack Obama 55%
• Rudy Giuliani 38%

• Hillary Clinton 54% (57%)
• Mike Huckabee 41% (34%)

• Barack Obama 55%
• Mike Huckabee 37%

• Hillary Clinton 55% (54%)
• Mitt Romney 41% (39%)

• Barack Obama 57%
• Mitt Romney 35%

• Hillary Clinton 49% (46%)
• John McCain 47% (47%)

• Barack Obama 50%
• John McCain 43%

Survey of 513 registered voters was conducted December 13-15. The margin of error is +/- 4.4 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted October 12-14 are in parentheses.

SurveyUSA Oregon Presidential Election

• Hillary Clinton 50% (50%)
• Rudy Giuliani 42% (45%)

• Barack Obama 50%
• Rudy Giuliani 40%

• Hillary Clinton 50% (56%)
• Mike Huckabee 42% (36%)

• Barack Obama 51%
• Mike Huckabee 40%

• Hillary Clinton 51% (57%)
• Mitt Romney 40% (37%)

• Barack Obama 50%
• Mitt Romney 38%

• Hillary Clinton 46% (49%)
• John McCain 46% (44%)

• Barack Obama 46%
• John McCain 44%

Survey of 537 registered voters was conducted December 13-15. The margin of error is +/- 4.3 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted October 12-14 are in parentheses.

Rasmussen GOP New Hampshire Primary

• Mitt Romney 31% (33%)
• John McCain 27% (18%)
• Rudy Giuliani 13% (15%)
• Mike Huckabee 11% (14%)
• Ron Paul 7% (8%)
• Fred Thompson 3% (2%)
• Tom Tancredo 1% (3%)

Survey of Likely Republican Voters was conducted December 18. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted December 11 are in parentheses.

And the good news keeps rolling in for Mitt Romney:

Rasmussen Reports Republican Iowa Caucus

• Huckabee – 28% (39)
• Romney – 27% (23)
• McCain – 14% (6)
• Thompson – 8% (8)
• Giuliani – 8% (8)
• Paul – 6% (5)
• Tancredo – 2% (3)
• Hunter – 1% (1)

Survey of likely caucus-goers was conducted Dec 17.

Rasmussen notes that Huckabee’s favorable rating has dropped from 81% to 67% in one week, and his support from evangelicals dropped from 62% to 49%.

As they say, very interesting…

Rasmussen Reports Daily National Republican Tracking Poll

• Huckabee – 22%
• Romney – 16%
• Giuliani – 16%
• McCain – 13%
• Thompson – 12%
• Paul – 6%

Reuters/Zogby GOP National Primary

• Giuliani 23% (29%)
• Huckabee 22% (11%)
• Romney 16% (9%)
• Thompson 13% (15%)
• McCain 12% (9%)
• Paul 4% (5%)

The poll was taken last Wednesday to Friday. It surveyed 432 likely Republican primary voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.

I knew when McCain got the endorsement of the New Hampshire Union Leader that is was significant, but I didn’t know the editorial page would actively campaign for McCain at the expense of his rivals. Not that I’m complaining, of course:

REPUBLICANS, please identify which of your presidential candidates said the following:

“We’re not going to round up 12 million people and send them out of the country.”

John McCain? No, Mitt Romney, saying in May that he would deport some but not all illegals — which is also John McCain’s position.

Please identify which of your presidential candidates said this:

“They require people signing up for, registering and receiving, if you will, a number, a registration number, then working here for six years and paying taxes, not taking benefits — health, Medicaid, food stamps — and so on, not taking benefits, and then at the end of that period, registering to become a citizen or applying to become a citizen and paying a fee. And those are things that are being considered. I think those are reasonable proposals.”

John McCain? No, Mitt Romney — supporting John McCain’s position on immigration in 2005.

Earlier this month Romney sent a flyer to New Hampshire households stating that McCain would grant Social Security benefits to illegal aliens. That is a lie. Both McCain and Romney would grant benefits to immigrants only after they receive citizenship.

If Republicans are voting for Mitt Romney because they think he would be tougher on illegal immigration than John McCain would be, they need to explain how Romney suddenly switched from supporting McCain’s position just two years ago to attacking it (with distortions) this year.

And don’t get us started on Rudy Giuliani, who has said time and again that as mayor of New York he only supported deporting illegals who were criminals. Mr. Mayor, they’re all criminals. That’s where the word “illegal” comes from.

The fact is, neither Romney nor Giuliani nor McCain has a pure conservative record on immigration. The difference is, Republicans know for sure that McCain isn’t hiding his true position. The same cannot be said of Romney and Giuliani.

This is one of my favorite stories from Mitt Romney’s life.  You can read the whole thing here.  I think its a compelling ad:

Jim G., Jonathan Martin, and Soren Dayton are talking up the Mormon factor in the upcoming primaries, particularly in Iowa.

Let me give you the Mormon perspective on all this. The 22,000 number being thrown around is a bit misleading but the impact of the Mormon vote can hardly be ignored.

Let’s set the baseline semantics so we get things right here.

• A Ward is the equivalent of a parish. Mormon congregations are organized strictly by geography. At any Mormon chapel you might pass there are typically 2 to 4 wards that meet there. So, for example, in my Virginia suburb of Ashburn there are 4 wards. We all meet in the same building on Sunday and throughout the week. Each ward is comprised of roughly 400-600 members. A Branch is a smaller congregation that you might find in remote areas or that caters to ethnic groups (for example, a “Spanish Branch”).
• A Stake comprises about 9-12 wards (Think of “tent stake”). This is the local leadership structure that helps with regional activities and needs.
• Mormons will sometimes refer to “active” and “inactive” members. Wards and Stakes track the “activity rate” (% of the ward that regularly attend Sunday meetings). This can range between 40% and 70%. As I understand it Iowa activity rates are somewhere between 50% and 60%.
• In Iowa there are 7 stakes; 35 wards; 32 branches with roughly 22,000 members.
• Potential caucus goers? When you subtract the number of eligible voters (Mormons have a lot of kids), take a chunk away for “inactive” members, and the narrow down that group to registered voters you get about 10,000 potential caucus goers. But Mormons love football as much as the next guy (the Orange Bowl happens to be that night with Kansas playing) and even with “their guy” in the race I wouldn’t expect a dramatic 90% turnout from the Mormon base.
• Also, consider, this isn’t a lockstep vote. I know plenty of Mormons who are die hard Ron Paul fans.

Bottom line: I expect no more than 3000 extra votes for Romney from the Mormon base in Iowa. Still, that’s roughly 6% of overall caucus voters and could mean the difference the race the way things are shaping up.

University of New Hampshire/CNN/WMUR

• Mitt Romney 34% (32)
• John McCain 22% (19)
• Rudy Giuliani 16% (19)
• Mike Huckabee 10% (9)
• Ron Paul 5% (7)
• Fred Thompson 1% (1)
• Tom Tancredo 1% (1)
• Duncan Hunter 1% (0)

These findings are based on the latest CNN / WMUR New Hampshire Primary Poll* conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. Four hundred eleven (411) randomly selected likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters were interviewed by telephone between December 13 and December 17, 2007. The margin of sampling error is +/- 5%.

Rudy Giuliani

• Rudy on Earmarks
• Iowa Students for Rudy Lead the Nation
• Giuliani Explains Unconventional Travels
• Rudy Web Ad “Same Gift”
• The Hallmark Campaign
• Rudy’s Own Christmas Ad
• For Xmas, Rudy Wants Presidential Candidates To Get Along
• Economic reasons for backing Rudy Giuliani for President
  by Steve Forbes
• Distinguished South Carolina Veterans Endorse Giuliani for President
• Rudy Giuliani Stops In Missouri
• Central Missouri Lawmakers Line Up Behind Giuliani
• Giuliani’s in Florida, but will that strategy work?
• Whither Rudy?
  Giuliani’s camp struggles with an Iowa-New Hampshire conundrum
  By Chuck Todd
• The Liberal Candidate
  Is Rudy Giuliani a new Barry Goldwater or a new Bobby Kennedy?
• Giuliani Noticeably Absent From Iowa Dash
  Former New York Mayor Plots Course to Capture Feb. 5 Primary States

Mike Huckabee

• Mike Huckabee’s Legacy
  By Rod Dreher
• Huckabee Now a Candidate With Something to Lose
• Huckabee Defends Christmas Ad
• Does Huckabee’s Rise Really Demonstrate a ‘Complex, Diverse’ Christian Right?
• Huckabee’s Promises Out-Bush the President
• Is sly ole’ Huckster Clintonizing the GOP?
• The Huckabee Backlash
• Gilchrist endorsement of Huckabee splits movement
  ‘We don’t think record on illegal immigration merits our support’
• Evidence Drudge Hates Huckabee, Part 2,387
• Huckabee ad renews faith in politics debate
• Huckabee’s Christmas Greeting
• In Christmas-Greeting Style, Huckabee Makes Appeal to Voters
• Huck’s Cross-Over Appeal
• Why the Huckabee Ad is Over the Line …
• Lee Bandy: For evangelicals, Huckabee is ‘real deal’
• Huckabee fights trail fat
• How War on Christmas Is Helping Huckabee’s Campaign
  by John Gibson
• Too Funny To Be President?
  Huckabee’s a joker. That’s a problem.
  By John Dickerson
• Aw Shucks-a-bee, Why Not Huckabee?
• Huckabee On “Larry King”
• Huckabee’s “Army” Plans A Major Fundraiser
• Iowa GOP political director sporting Huck sign in lawn
• The Huckabee Hustle

Mitt Romney

• Romney’s MTP Turn
  by Tom Bevan
• Was it all a dream?
  Mitt Romney claims that his father marched with MLK, but the record says otherwise
• Romney on Huckabee II
  Romney attacks Huckabee again with false and misleading claims.
• America’s President Deserves Thanks And Respect
  By Mitt Romney
• Romney ‘disgusted’ by Time choice
• Romney Calls for Employment Verification System that Already Exists
• Michigan crucial to Romney’s GOP run
• Mitt Romney Fights Model Image, Flip-Flopper Charges
• On the Road: Flying Romney Air
• Romney shores up S.C. support
• Romney no-pardons boast doesn’t mention denial of vet
• New Spot: Romney “Helped Save My Daughter”
• “Mitt Romney…Helped Save My Daughter”?
  Commentary by John Podhoretz
• Romney Working The (Small) Crowd in S.C.
• Tagg Romney: Like Father, Like Son
• Candidate has another teary moment
  Says he’s not ashamed of having emotions
• Fact Check: Romney on pardons
• Romney Attended Planned Parenthood Event
• Romney shrugs off photo of him at Planned Parenthood event
• Ex-Mormon Cartoonist Steve Benson Says Romney Not Telling Truth
• The upside of Mitt’s Mormonism
• Romney is doing better in Iowa than you think
• Is Romney Doing Better in Iowa Than Polls Suggest?
• Romney Does His Best Wille Horton Ad
• Romney Slams Huckabee’s Record in S.C.
• Romney Calls Huckabee ‘Liberal’
• Romney Assails Huckabee as “Too Liberal”
• Romney’s migration: He shouldn’t need to lie

John McCain

• John McCain Names Petraeus, Not Putin, as Person of the Year
• McCain does combo maverick/Iraq spot
• McCain on Trailing Huck: ‘Life’s Not Fair’
• McCain Sees a Need for Mortgage Aid
• McCain Calls for End To Alternative Minimum Tax
• McCain embraces tax cut turnaround
• Surprise surge from Mike Huckabee helps to revive John McCain’s campaign fortunes
• McCain’s Surge
  Why he’s making a primary comeback.
• Can McCain Make the Sale?
• McCain’s Media
  Jeff Greenfield’s report from the “CBS Evening News”
  McCain admits that it would have been impossible for his campaign to recover if the Petraeus strategy failed in Iraq.
• McCain on Iowa, NH, The Race

Fred Thompson

• Thompson Hits Romney on Campaign Finance Reform
• Thompson Says ‘Saddle Me Up’ in Campaign
• Fred Thompson: Lazy as charged
  By Roger Simon
• Fred Thompson Says Mike Huckabee is Not a Conservative
• Jeri Thompson: Fred’s Southern Strategy
• Jeri Thompson: Media Criticism has been “Stunningly Unfair”
• How Fred Thompson Wins the Nomination
• Fred Thompson’s New Energy

General Race 4 2008 News

• Intrade Update
• Map the Candidates
• Looking for Mr. Right
  By Michael Barone
• Hawkeyeing the Iowa Electoral Map
• Florida’s early voting: a wrinkle in the election cycle
  The new wrinkle gives presidential hopefuls risk and reward.
• Giuliani-Huckabee contest could split GOP
• Mitt nearly doubling up Huck on Iowa TV, but McCain close in N.H.
• Tancredo to get out?
• Poll: In Iowa Democratic Caucuses, Turnout Will Tell the Tale
  Obama’s Theme of Fresh Start Resonates Strongly Against Clinton Campaign
• A Tale of Two States
  What sells to Iowa evangelicals may not necessarily sell to South Carolina’s.
• For Republicans, an early start that might lead to a late finish
• Obama, Giuliani offer holiday greetings
• New Romney, Rudy Ads
• In Iowa, a test of religion and the presidency
• Non-believing US voters feel demonized
• Population churn adds uncertainty to races
  23 percent of potential voters are new to N.H.
• None of the Above: GOP Heading to a Brokered Convention
  By Tony Blankley
• Evans-Novak Political Report: Fred Thompson is the ‘X factor’ in Iowa
• Bloomberg and Ethanol
• Economy rivals security as top concern for voters
  The rise of new issues has given underdogs a boost and left frontrunners scrambling to change their tactics.
• Beyond the Presidential Campaign Spotlight
  by Newt Gingrich
• Newt Gingrich explains why red staters must turn green
  In ‘Contract with the Earth,’ Gingrich argues that conservatives should embrace environmentalism
• Hanukkah with the Bushes
  By Jeff Jacoby
• The New New Hampshire Voter
• Is Texas’ primary important? It depends
• Is it the ‘God thing’?
  by Ruben Navarrette
• Hard-liners for Jesus
  By Harold Meyerson
• Interest Groups Gain
  In Election Cash Quest
  Analysis Shows Giving To Parties Has Dipped; Beyond ‘Swift Boating’
• Voters Signal a Hunger for Change
  by Gerald Seib
• Anti-Americanism: It’s About American Power, Not Policy
• Stupid Intelligence on Iran
  If Tehran did slow its weapons program, Bush policies probably had something to do with it.
• Who Elected Iowa?
  By Ruth Marcus
• ‘2nd choice’ up for grabs in Iowa race
  Obama, Edwards maneuver to win undecided caucus voters, become anti-Clinton candidate
• Good Timing, Newsweek
  Boy, ironic time for Newsweek to put John Edwards on the cover with the headline, “The Sleeper”, huh?
• National Enquirer: John Edwards Love Child Scandal!
• America’s next top Democrat
  With the Iowa vote nearing, Clinton, Obama and Edwards reveal sharp tonal differences, betting the farm not on policy but on political panache.
  By Walter Shapiro
• Hillary and Obama
• Edwards Makes the Electability Case
• It’s Edwards the Fighter in the Iowa Homestretch
• Breakdown of Dems’ strategy
• Rivals borrow each other’s playbook
  Obama toughens campaign trail persona; Clinton shows a softer side
• Semantics of immigration have candidates on guard
• Senate Adds $70 Billion for Wars in Spending Bill
• Ron Paul Says He’d Lift Sanctions on Iran
• The Incredible Disappearing Border Fence
  By Michelle Malkin
• Democracy Corps: Winning the Immigration Issue
  A report on new national survey on immigration
• Frank Rich bashes political reporters
• White House Slams New York Times Piece on Destroyed CIA Tapes
• Putin named Time magazine’s person of the year
• David Petraeus: 4th Runner-Up
• Barnes: An Astonishing Turnaround on Iraq

Hillary Clinton

• Time to Move On…From Hillary
  And from the Clintons’ brand of politics.
  by Bill Kristol
• The Clinton Referendum
  By Matt Bai
• For Hillary, Electability Now Equals Vulnerability Later
  By Dick Morris
• Clinton Under A Harsher Microscope?
  The Candidate’s Coverage Is Bemoaned for Being Held To a Tougher Standard
  By Howard Kurtz
• Humanizing Hillary
• Showing the personal side of Clinton
• Rush to Judgment
  by Maureen Dowd
• Hillary Clinton’s Firewall
  Will Barack Obama’s anemic standing among Latinos be his undoing?
  by John Judis
• Clinton Triangulation Comes Full Circle
  By Jonah Goldberg
• After Delay, Clinton Embarks on a Likability Tour
• Clinton Secret Weapon: Organization
  In Iowa Campaigning, Teresa Vilmain Is Unrivaled
• Hillary, We Thoroughly Knew Ye
  By Dana Milbank
• Clinton claims momentum shifting to her in Iowa
• First-Lady Extinction?
  If it’s imminent, hallelujah.
• Holbrook says Clinton believed Iraq vote could prevent war
  General gave world leaders same advice
• Experiencing the Clintons’ revisionism
  by Debra Saunders
• Play of the Day: Clinton’s Magic play
• Clinton returns to 1990s battleground
• Bill Clinton’s Stump Speech
• B. Clinton comments on J. Lieberman and J. McCain
• Hillary’s appeal struggles to span party divide
• Elder Bush nixes Clinton trip idea
• Why Hillary Will Lose Iowa
  By Timothy Carney

Barack Obama

• Obama talks foreign policy
• Filmmaker Ken Burns endorses Obama
• A Madrassa, Bob Kerrey? A Madrassa?
• Kerrey Tries to Explain Obama ‘Muslim’ Remarks
• Obama: Look beyond Iraq
• Obama Called Out Ted Kennedy: “You’re Getting A Little Old…Get Some Spine”
• Obama fights his own ‘axis of evil’ on stump
• Barack Obama For President
  by Bob Cesca