Posted on 05/23/2006 9:33:12 AM PDT by waterloofan
If the 2008 presidential race were between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain, the country could be in for another nail-biter. The next presidential election may be more than two years away, but the politicking has already started and many consider Clinton and McCain the front-runners for their respective political parties. In the latest FOX News national registered voter poll, McCain bests Clinton by a slim 4-percentage point margin — 46 percent to 42 percent — in a hypothetical matchup. Given the poll’s 3-point margin of error, that means this race could go either way. The Republican edge widens outside the error margin when the choices are between Clinton (40 percent) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (49 percent). “ Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of Americans have a favorable opinion of Giuliani and 15 percent unfavorable, giving him a 49-point net positive rating. That puts him ahead of first lady Laura Bush, who has a 40-point positive (64 percent favorable, 24 percent unfavorable); and well ahead of the others, including McCain, who has a 24-point positive rating (49 percent favorable, 25 percent unfavorable); former President Bill Clinton, who has a 23-point positive (58 percent favorable, 35 percent unfavorable); and Hillary Clinton, who has an 8-point positive (50 percent favorable, 42 percent unfavorable).
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
sigh.
When you put McCain next to Hillary people see someone they like next to that cold freak whose only qualification is she was the wronged woman.
This is somewhat related:
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/68917.htm
GIULIANI '08: A REAL CHANCE
By JOHN PODHORETZ
May 23, 2006 -- IN my new book ("Can She Be Stopped?"), I suggest that the Republican best suited to the challenge of preventing Hillary Clinton's ascension to the Oval Of fice in 2008 is Rudy Giuliani.
A Fox News Opinion Dynamics poll released yesterday offers some strong ballast for the idea: In a head-to-head matchup, Rudy beats Hillary 49 percent to 40 percent, the best showing among all Republican contenders.
By contrast, John McCain has a 46-to-42 advantage over Hillary - besting her but not as decisively as Rudy does. Rudy is viewed favorably by 64 percent of those asked, McCain by 49 percent (Hillary: 50 percent).
And this is not a poll of Republicans alone: The respondents are 41 percent Democrat, 32 percent Republican and 21 percent independent.
It's probably not surprising that Rudy wins in a head-to-head contest for the presidency. After all, Hillary is a lightning rod - while he, once a hugely controversial figure, has become beloved.
But what about in a Republican primary? Can Rudy possibly win?
In surveys of Republican primary voters, two names top every list - Giuliani and McCain. Each gets support from around 30 percent, with every other possible contender hovering around 2 or 3 percent at most.
What's interesting about this is that if you ask political professionals, they will tell you that McCain and Giuliani will have an extremely hard time getting to the nomination. McCain has a socially conservative voting record, but his signature piece of campaign-finance legislation was a conscious effort to disempower grass-roots groups - like those advancing socially conservative ideas.
As for Rudy, he is not an opponent of gay marriage and spoke out against a partial-birth-abortion ban - two views that put him at dramatic odds with the GOP's evangelical base.
And yet the polls that have these two men galloping away from the rest of the field were done exclusively with Republican primary voters. Such people tend to be more involved in and better informed about politics than the average American, so it stands to reason that they have some knowledge of McCain's and Giuliani's positions.
And so far it isn't bothering them. Why?
One word: leadership.
In McCain's case, he demonstrated his ability to be a leader of men in the most horrifying of possible circumstances, as a prisoner at the Hanoi Hilton. And, unlike most senators, who are content to spend their years surfing along, McCain has been an aggressive and ambitious legislator.
He has sought questionable results at times, but he is willing to stick his neck out and get his hands dirty. Most important, from the standpoint of 2008, he has been an ardent critic of free-spending Washington ways since he was first in the House of Representatives 23 years ago.
As for Rudy, not only did he demonstrate towering leadership abilities when he gave the city and the nation hope and strength after 9/11, but he also possesses an unparalleled record of achievement as a local official.
Both men, for different reasons, strike Republicans as having the right kind of approach to the War on Terror and the war against Islamist fundamentalism.
So why do I join with those in the Fox poll in preferring Rudy over McCain? I think Giuliani is a more viable candidate because he has not been involved in Washington politics over the last few years. He can therefore run for president on a promise to come into D.C. and try to clean up the mess.
Is this a Republican cliché? Yes. Did George W. Bush use it for his run in 2000? But just because it's old doesn't mean it won't work again. It will.
But Rudy can't just waltz into the nomination holding views that are offensive to the most important GOP voters; he'll have to shift his ground and move toward social conservatives if he is to prevail. But nobody ever said it was easy to run for president.
jpodhoretz@gmail.com
America doesnt need a crazy Rino president. The sane Rinos have done enough damage. Sorry.
Enough with the Katherine Harris bashing. Take it somewhere else.
Nah.
That's because what's quoted in my tagline is the biggest thing they have in common..
Shouldn't the media report the news?
This seems like creating hypothetical news that has zero value.
Now I understand. McCain acts like a liberal so the media will push him for president. Never mind that he can't win the Republican primary. Time for him to retire quietly onto an Arizona ranch.
America needs a REAL leader who isn't part of the Washington boy's club, and we haven't seen one of those in a LONG time.
Maybe that it is why it is so close - people don't want either one...
BLOAT
would not be close for me NO FING WAY ID VOTE FOR THAT EVIL WITCH
Time for him to retire quietly onto an Arizona ranch.
That's too good for him.
> Shouldn't the media report the news?
We are decades past those days. The Legacy Media are
today entirely hidden-agenda-driven, and the agenda
ain't as hidden as they think it is.
> This seems like creating hypothetical news that
> has zero value.
This is about Hillary. The decaying Legacy Media allows
itself to talk about McCain (D,AZ), because his war on
the First Amendment might restore their former monopoly.
McCain, Guiliani, etc might just end up losing a presidential election by the widest margin in history should they run. Liberals certainly aren't going to vote for them, and good luck trying to get conservative votes.
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