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Giuliani soars in election race
08/03/2007 18:58 - (SA)
Washington - Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani has more than doubled his lead in the latest voter poll on the Republican presidential nomination, while Senator Barack Obama is closing in on Senator Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side, a new survey showed on Thursday.
Giuliani, who led Senator John McCain 6% points in December, leads his closest rival by 14 points, 38 to 2%, according to the nation-wide Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who led Republicans in their takeover of Congress in 1994, is a distant third with 10%, followed by Massachusetts ex-governor Mitt Romney with 8%.
In a head-to-head matchup, Giuliani, who was dubbed "America's Mayor" for his leadership role after the September 11 2001 attacks, takes a 21-point lead over McCain, with Republican voters favouring him 55% to 34%.
Ten months before the first party primaries for the 2008 election, Clinton's lead on Obama has shrunk by seven points, going from 37-18% in December to 40-28% in the new poll.
Face-off
Ex-senator John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential candidate, is in third place with 15% of Democratic support, while New Mexico governor Bill Richardson trails far behind with 5%.
In a face-off, Clinton leads Obama by eight points, 47-39%.
Regarding the war in Iraq, the survey shows continued pessimism among Americans, with 69% - the same as in December - saying they are less confident about a successful conclusion while 20% say they are more confident.
President George W Bush's decision to send 21 ,500 extra US troops to Iraq is unpopular, with 55% saying they strongly oppose the move.
Elections begin in January
But, 41% are strongly against congress restricting funding to limit Bush's ability to deploy the additional troops.
The telephone survey was conducted on March 2-5 among 1 007 adults. It has a 3.1-point margin of error.
Party nominees are chosen in a series of state-wide elections that begin in January 2008.
- AFP
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