All it needs is the jingle from those Mac v. PC commercials:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqOHquOkpaU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fandrewsullivan%2Etheatlantic%2Ecom%2F[/youtube]

??????? I doubt it. And even if I am wrong, I think such a Republican presidential nominee would be leading a broken,?divided, and crippled party to a general election defeat. I think the formula for GOP success is the same as it has always been, in order: 1) Nominate a candidate who can first unite and energize the Republican base and then 2) Reach out to independents and moderates in a general election. For me, I want the most conservative nominee possible who can also win in November by doing these two things. And I don’t think you necessarily need to be of the middle to be attractive to them – Ronald Reagan won those voters as a conservative of principle whom voters trusted to govern as he campaigned.

John Marelius of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on the continued conservative resistance to the candidacies of Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, as Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson loom on the horizon.

Forgive me while I wax sentimental. I posted this on my first blog www.illinoisansformitt.blogspot.com a year ago this weekend. It’s kind of fun to look back at it. Everything still holds true that I said. It’s also fun to think about the days when I was excited because I went from 10 hits to 12 hits in a single day. I’ve since started www.MyManMitt.com, which gets around 1-2000 hits a day and has been quoted by nearly every conservative online rag along with CNN, Fox News, BBC, NPR, Meet the Press along with several Boston TV stations and newspapers. Don’t mean to brag, but it is kind of fun to think about.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Washington D.C. for the first time. Among the things that impressed me the most was the WWII Memorial situated between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. As I sat there reflecting I began to think about how are country has changed since WWII. I particularly thought of my grandfather.

Born in 1915 he was eligible to fight in the war, yet stayed home because his services as an airplane designer were needed at a small airplane manufacturer in California he worked for, Northrop. Throughout the war, he once told me, he would get jeers and comments when he would be out with my grandmother for not being out and fighting for the US. He went on to co-create some of the very planes that would help defeat the Nazis

I will never forget how in the last years of his life, having suffered a stroke that left him without the ability to speak, he would still pull out books of the airplanes that he worked on and proudly showed me the fruits of his labors. He never expected a free ride. As the son of a hard working carpenter in Los Angeles he never considered the idea of passing the personal responsibility to hold a job and provide for his family to someone else. He died leaving a modest savings and a house that was paid off long ago to his descendants- a tribute to the work ethic, sacrifice and frugality of his generation. He was a giver not a taker.

As I sat there thinking of these things, I realized America has strayed little by little from those roots that were once so strong. While we once stood for patriotism, sacrifice, God and personal responsibility, the en vogue principles today are asserting your rights and milking the government. Which is why I decided to become involved with Gov. Mitt Romney’s unofficial grassroots organization.

I have started a grassroots organization in Illinois that can be found at http://illinoisans4mitt.blogspot.com. It is part of a larger grassroots organization that promotes Mitt Romney for the 2008 presidential election. Mitt Romney on every issue has stressed the personal responsibility of individuals. He said “welfare without work creates negative incentives that lead to permanent poverty. It robs people of self-esteem.” Unlike my grandpa who could leave this world with a feeling of satisfaction resulting from his labors, millions of Americans will will not because government has created a system of dependence. Our government has failed it’s citizens in this regard.

Romney believes in states right to decide its own fate through the legislature, not judicial order. He is pro-family, pro-life and pro-values. He has created a medical plan that shifts responsibility from the state to the individual and has shown the State of Massachusetts that fiscal budgets need to be balanced without taxing the people.

As voters become more familiar with Romney those attributes that are so desperately needed in our nations leaders will shine through. He will inspire America to a higher cause as Regan did, and promote government agendas that will reduce government and promote a better sense of self-reliance. He has proven he can bring Democrats along with his agenda as is becoming increasingly necessary, while at the same time promoting conservative ideals and the GOP.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLOLYtWLMyw[/youtube]

Hopefully Affleck will make his pilgrimage to SLC to apologize. Somehow, as a Mormon, I find it comforting to see Affleck call my religion questionable.

Ryan Sager analyzes the most recent poll of GOP primary voters that narrows the GOP field to Rudy, McCain, and Romney:

Yes, those are the big three. But not very much public polling at this point narrows down the choices as such mostly voters are being asked to chose from a list of 10 or more candidates.

I’ve been arguing that a narrowing of the field helps Rudy Giuliani the most, given his status as the most-chosen second-choice candidate in polls meaning, voters supporting other candidates will shift to Rudy when their favored third-tierer drops out.

Well, a CBS/NYT poll out today points toward my theory being correct…

In a poll question that lists just the Big Three, Mr. Giuliani (whose lead has been narrowing in broader polls) runs away with it: Mr. Giuliani 36%, John McCain 22%, Mitt Romney 15%, None/Other 21%, Unsure 6%.

Now, there’s good news and bad news for Mr. Giuliani. The good news, well, see above. The bad news: They ran this poll previously, in April, and Mr. Giuliani has fallen 11 points since then. His lead over Mr. McCain has gone from 22 points to 14 points.

BUT … this isn’t good news for Mr. McCain. Mr. McCain has also fallen in the latest poll, by 3 points.

Who’s gained?

Well, Mr. Romney has seen an uptick of 5 points. But the real candidate to keep an eye on is None/Other. He’s up 8 points from 13%. While there’s no way to know this for sure, I’m guessing None/Other is best known for his turn on ‘Law & Order’ as a home-spun Manhattan DA. I’m guessing he’s not a libertarian isolationist.

Now, in a race with only Rudy, McCain, and Romney, the 21% of GOP voters backing None/Other, along with the 6% who are completely out to lunch, could easily consolidate behind Romney or McCain and send Rudy into a distant second place. But given that the None/Other voters are presently not inclined to vote for “Rudy McRomney,” they are far more likely to coalesce around another candidate should one emerge with the establishment backing and fundraising potential to transform the Big Three into the Fantastic Four. Given the imminent entry of Fred Dalton Thompson into the race, the None/Other supporters will likely have themselves a candidate.

But here’s where things get interesting. Even if Fred Thompson were to enter the field and scoop up all of the None/Other voters, not only would Rudy remain in the lead, but it would then become nearly impossible for anyone to surpass the Mayor, despite the reality that nearly two-thirds of GOP voters would be supporting someone other than Rudy. This is because, as Kavon often notes, you can only divide 100% so many ways. As long as three candidates with significant funds and organizations are dividing fairly evenly the approximately 65% of Republicans who want anybody but Rudy, the approximately 35% of Republicans who want Rudy will ensure that Giuliani wins the day. Now, in past years, this sort of dynamic hasn’t existed for long due to the multi-month primary schedule that would see candidates run out of money and drop out of the race, freeing up their potential supporters to back other candidates. But given that we’ll basically have our nominee by February 5th, 2008, and given that all of the ad buys in primary states will basically be a done deal well before Iowa or New Hampshire, and given that there won’t really be a reason for any of the Fabulous Four to drop out before Super Duper Tuesday, Rudy’s nomination just may be inevitable.

According to the latest poll out of the Keystone State, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani would absolutely demolish Democrats’ electoral chances in 2008 by adding Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes to the GOP column. To be fair, so does Sen. McCain:

2008 General Election: Pennsylvania

Rudy Giuliani: 42%
Hillary Clinton: 35%

Rudy Giuliani: 42%
Barack Obama: 34%

Rudy Giuliani: 43%
John Edwards: 34%

John McCain: 44%
Hillary Clinton: 36%

John McCain: 39%
Barack Obama: 36%

John McCain: 41%
John Edwards: 35%

Rudy decimates Mrs. Clinton by a 41%-17% margin among Independents and decidedly wins the male vote while running even with Hillary among women. In a state that went for John Kerry by only two points in 2004 but then gave Republicans some of their most significant losses in 2006, a victory for any Republican in 2008 will be an uphill climb. The fact that Rudy (and McCain) are already there says a lot about their appeal to blue state voters, as well as to voters who abandoned the GOP in 2006. The next election has to be about more than trying to squeeze enough votes out of the Ohio River region in order to get to a majority, a dead strategy given the ground Republicans lost in territory like Missouri and Ohio last November. Given that Republicans have not one, but two major candidates who can spark insurrection in solid Democrat territory, wouldn’t it be insane not to nominate one of them?

I call this one, “The Littlest Brownbackers“.

A full Field Report regarding the grand opening of Sen. Brownback’s Iowa headquarters will be posted after the holiday.

Every now and then, I forget just how disturbing the thought of a Hillary presidency actually is. Pieces like this serve to remind me:

Bill Clinton was ready to divorce Hillary to be with one of his lovers, according to a book out next month.

The marriage crisis is said to have ended with his wife talking him out of the move, telling a friend “there are worse things than infidelity”.

The story is among a string of revelations in two books detailing Mrs Clinton’s rise to the U.S. Senate and her push for the presidency.

Both works document her husband’s many affairs when he was governor of Arkansas.

Carl Bernstein claims in A Woman in Charge that the love of the former president’s life was business executive Marilyn Jo Jenkins.

According to the Watergate journalist, Miss Jenkins was spirited into the governor’s mansion for a final, furtive meeting with him the day he left to claim the White House.

Miss Jenkins is said to have played such a “pivotal role” in Mr Clinton’s life that in 1989 he offered to divorce Hillary to be with her.

The ensuing crisis apparently led to Betsey Wright, Mr Clinton’s chief of staff, taking him to see a therapist.

Mrs Clinton later told her best friend Diane Blair that she believed the presidency would help her marriage because her husband’s “sexual compulsions would be tempered by the White House and the ever-present press corps”.

As Mr Bernstein makes clear, in light of the Monica Lewinsky scandal that turned out to be “a flawed assumption”.

In the 640-page book, Bob Boorstin, who worked for Mrs Clinton when she was trying to restructure the nation’s healthcare system, blamed her for the collapse of her own plans.

“I find her to be among the most self-righteous people I’ve ever known,” he told Mr Bernstein. “It’s her great flaw.”

Mark Fabiani, who defended the Clintons as White House counsel, said Hillary was “so tortured by the way she’s been treated that she would do anything to get out of the situation.

“If that involved not being fully forthcoming, Mr Fabiani said she would say: ‘I have a reason for not being forthcoming.’”

The second book, Her Way by New York Times reporters Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr, claims that Mrs Clinton hired a private detective to investigate one of her husband’s mistresses.

According to the book, she ordered the detective to undermine Gennifer Flowers “until she is destroyed”.

The incident took place when Mr Clinton was running for president in 1992.

Her Way looks in detail at Mrs Clinton’s Senate vote in support of the Iraq war, suggesting she may have been motivated by a desire not to abandon her husband’s toughon-Iraq policy and a need “to prove that she was tough”.

Both books were leaked to the Washington Post yesterday ahead of publication next month.

The Post said Mrs Clinton emerges as a “complicated, sometimes compromised figure who tolerated Bill Clinton’s brazen infidelity, pursued her policy and political goals with methodical drive”.

The New York Senator, it said, had “occasionally skirted along the edge of the truth along the way” to power.

It said the books posed “a number of assertions and anecdotes that could confront her campaign with unwelcome questions”.

Last night political analysts said the books would damage Mrs Clinton in the eyes of some voters. They added, however, that most would find little to surprise them in the allegations.

One of the most unsettling charges in Her Way is that the Clintons made a “secret plan” when they were in Arkansas in which they would each have two terms as president.

The authors said that even before the pair married, they formulated a “secret pact of ambition” aimed at the White House.

Mr Bernstein said that both Clintons went to great lengths to “keep the lid on his infidelities”.

On one occasion Hillary personally interviewed one of her husband’s lovers and helped persuade her to sign a statement saying she had never had sex with him.

Mrs Clinton’s Senate office dismissed the books as offering no new material.

Her spokesman Philippe Reines told the Washington Post: “Is it possible to be quoted yawning? If past books on Mrs Clinton were cash for trash, these books are nothing more than cash for rehash.”

Her campaign spokesman, Howard Wolfson, told the paper: “The news here is that it took three reporters nearly a decade to find no news.

“Two overwhelming Senate victories in the toughest media market in the country demonstrated that voters have put these issues behind them.”

My emphasis on all counts.

Now, granted, there are plenty of things in life worse than infidelity, but I’m not sure that “not being president” is one of them. Unless you’re Hillary, whose Manifest Destiny as Empress of the West trumps all. Further, the Clintonian marital “pact” is a bit creepy if nothing else, and only helps to paint a picture of a woman who is utterly amoral, and one who has the sole objective of acquiring power for power’s sake. Reading pieces like this makes me realize more than ever that She Must Be Stopped.

I post this despite being a huge GM fan:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wduTPz7WGOs[/youtube]

In case you have never seen this bit of oddball curiosity:

I= I

A= am

C=Chairman

O= Of

C=Chrysler

C=Corporation of

A= America

(Hat Tip Elect Romney Blog. Check out their new redesign, looks good! MyManMitt has one in the works too.)

…not really the worse.

Any doubts former Sen. Fred Thompson isn’t getting into the race have probably flown out the window based on the news this morning that Rep. Marsha Blackburn has jumped off the Mitt Romney Bandwagon and endorsed Thompson. Given that Blackburn is friends with Thompson and from the same state, the endorsement isn’t a surprise. But the timing is. Thompson isn’t announced yet. This leads us to believe that Blackburn must know something other folks don’t. Otherwise, why so publicly go out on a limb and embarrass the Romney camp? According to Romney insiders, Blackburn was slated to help run the “Women for Romney” operation and was in line to be a key national surrogate for the campaign down south. This isn’t a huge blow to that campaign by any stretch. But it is an interesting little twist to a race that is getting more interesting by the hour.

Marsha Blackburn was not really the most prominent member of the campaign, but prominent none the less. It’s good get for Thompson, but her role should be one Team Mitt can replace without a problem.

[Update]
According to a very strong source in the campaign, “She was getting a lot of state party pressure…She wants to run on a state-wide basis some day” I guess there is a lot of pressure and a lot of people to please in these sorts of things. Best of luck to Marsha!

Blogger “Firstate” over at www.Redstate.com brings up an interesting factoid from Team Sam. Apparently in effort to appeal to our expatriate Canadian neighbors up north, Brownback has decided to go AWOL in the thick of the battle.

Yesterday the Senate voted on Amendment to eliminate sanctuary cities for illegals. Unfortunately it failed by one vote. Where was the gentleman from Kansas? Well he was wrapping up a late morning breakfast in Souix City.

Well it wasn’t a very important vote and I guess his vote in the affirmative was not really going to make a difference…

My point? Brownback is weak on immigration (albeit strong in many other areas.) He has not made much noise during the current immigration debacle, and it would be nice to see him come to an important vote while he is getting paid for the job. There are a lot of checks in the positive column for Sam, but getting paid for not working and dodging what is probably the most pressing issue at the moment belongs in another column.

Hat tip to commenter Argo for this poll (PDF warning):

CBS News/New York Times 2008 National GOP Primary
(numbers in parentheses are from their April poll)

Giuliani – 36% (47)
McCain – 22% (27)
Romney – 15% (10)
Someone else – 21% (13)

Survey was of 269 Republican Primary Voters, done May 18-23, and has an unknown MoE.

Not sure how accurate the poll is since they just give three names and then “someone else”, but you can see the trend lines mirroring recent movement in other polls.

Some other numbers to note regarding the GOP nomination process:

Favorable/Unfavorable Ratings

Giuliani – 53/18 (60/10)
McCain – 33/31 (39/20)
Romney – 28/11 (20/9)

60% of GOP voters don’t know enough about Romney to have an opinion yet.

Does Giuliani share Republican values?
Yes – 44% (54)
No – 34% (26)
Don’t know – 22% (20)

Abortion among GOP voters
Abortion should be available – 21%
Abortion should be available, but with limits – 39%
Abortion should not be permitted – 40%

Have at it.

This is the first poll out for the 2008 Kansas primary, and the results may startle you:

Research 2000 Kansas GOP Primary

Brownback – 18%
Romney – 17%
McCain – 13%
Giuliani – 13%
F Thompson – 7%
Gingrich – 6%
Tancredo – 2%
All others – 1% or less

Survey was of 400 likely voters, done May 21-23, and has an MoE of 5%.

Romney plays well in red state country despite never having campaigned there, while Giuliani and McCain struggle. Additionally, this can’t bode well for Brownback, being statistically tied in his home state.

On the Dem side, Hillary leads Obama and Edwards by 5 and 6 points, respectively.

Here are the head-to-head matchups:

Research 2000 Kansas Head-to-head Matchups

• McCain – 47%
• Clinton – 31%

• McCain – 46%
• Edwards – 34%

• McCain – 46%
• Obama – 34%

• Giuliani – 46%
• Clinton – 31%

• Giuliani – 45%
• Edwards – 34%

• Giuliani – 45%
• Obama – 34%

• Romney – 47%
• Clinton – 31%

• Romney – 46%
• Edwards – 33%

• Romney – 46%
• Obama – 32%

In other words, all three GOP candidates have the same lead, within the MoE, over all their respective Democrat opponents.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H3zhZu0S5w[/youtube]

It would be nice to get of shot of him with out the balloon in his face.

Nope, that’s not Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity you hear calling Obama a true-blue liberal.

It’s Andrew Sullivan:

I went to see Obama last night. He had a fundraiser at H20, a yuppie disco/restaurant in Southwest DC. I was curious about how he is in person. I’m still absorbing the many impressions I got. But one thing stays in my head. This guy is a liberal. Make no mistake about that. He may, in fact, be the most effective liberal advocate I’ve heard in my lifetime. As a conservative, I think he could be absolutely lethal to what’s left of the tradition of individualism, self-reliance, and small government that I find myself quixotically attached to. And as a simple observer, I really don’t see what’s stopping him from becoming the next president. The overwhelming first impression that you get – from the exhausted but vibrant stump speech, the diverse nature of the crowd, the swell of the various applause lines – is that this is the candidate for real change. He has what Reagan had in 1980 and Clinton had in 1992: the wind at his back. Sometimes, elections really do come down to a simple choice: change or more of the same?

…

From the content and structure of Obama’s pitch to the base, it’s also clear to me that whatever illusions I had about his small-c conservatism, he’s a big government liberal with – for a liberal – the most attractive persona and best-developed arguments since JFK.

I fear he could do to conservatism what Reagan did to liberalism.

Want more proof that Obama is no centrist? Here’s where he stands on the GWOT:

Obama’s speech began and continued with domestic policy. War? What war?

…

But he must tell us how we are to stay on offense in this war if he is to win over worriers like me. To listen to a stump speech five or so years after 9/11 and wait for almost half a speech until he mentions it is disconcerting.

…

There’s a reason for his wide appeal. The over-whelming question for me at this point in this historic campaign is a simple one: who will stop him?

Andrew makes some salient points about Obama’s charm and charisma, but I think that Sully is giving the American people far too little credit if he thinks they won’t see in Obama the same leftist that he discerned last night. As an urbane son of privilege, and an academic on top of it all, Obama is unlikely to connect on a personal level with the middle-class, middle-aged Middle Americans who decide elections. We on the blogosphere often forget that it’s the 55-year-old veteran in suburban Milwaukee who will have far more say over who wins the presidency than two dozen thirtysomething city-dwellers on either my side of the Potomac or Andrew’s (his has more character, but mine’s cheaper). I remain skeptical that many of the more traditional voters who cast ballots for John Kerry — a war veteran and a practicing Catholic — will have the same connection with Barack Obama. And that doesn’t just go for the general. There’s a reason why the shrill, lifeless Hillary Clinton is eons ahead of Obama among Democrats, and why she continues to pull away. Given the cultural chasm between Obama and the average American voter, given Obama’s clear leftism, which hasn’t exactly been a harbinger of electability in recent decades, and given the residual racism that will almost certainly be a factor in the campaign of any non-white candidate for national office, I would suggest re-wording Andrew’s ultimate question into: “who won’t stop him?”

Polipundit’s Michael “A.J. Sparxx” Illions has posted a podcast with New Jersey conservative Bill Spadea. The podcast covered:

…social issues to the illegal immigration pro-amnesty bill in the Senate, and everything in between, Spadea responded with Rudy’s position on these issues.

We also tackled a possible Thompson or Gingrich candidacy, the rule proposal in New Jersey for the primary to make it a “Winner Take All” scenario which was proposed by a Giuliani supporter and possible names that would fill positions in a Giuliani Administration.

Click here to listen.

Tom Trancredo provides some straight talk on the Senate immigration compromise.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qe5FbTV8RU[/youtube]

Thanks to David All at Tech Republican for the heads-up.

??????? Campaign Closet is what I am going to call those references out in the public domain that GOP presidential candidates would just as soon not see hit the light of day and be able to hide somewhere.

In my view, it is better that Republicans vet their own candidates in this primary so as not to nominate someone whom the Democrats will surprise general election voters with revelations about – as happened in 2000, when the George W. Bush DUI story leaked by Democrats on the weekend before the election gave the popular vote and nearly the Electoral College to Al Gore.

It was reported last week by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Governor Mitt Romney, at a private fund-raiser of his,?introduced conservative Republican activist Ralph Reed to the audience as Gary Bauer, realized the error but could not properly identify Reed.

Just more evidence it seems, however innocuous, that Governor Romney is not as in tune to the conservative movement as he claims. A bona fide conservative simply does not make that mistake, I don’t care how many events the candidate has done or how tired they are.

It is also interesting to note that Mayor Rudy Giuliani supporters had been confident that Reed would be supporting their guy. Of course,?despite attendance at?the Romney event, perhaps Reed’s 2008 support is still an open question after the Governor’s gaffe.

Brody file has the scoop on Romney’s stance:

“Governor Romney effectively used available federal funds through the Title V program to implement abstinence education in Massachusetts classrooms. The governor feels that it is important for this alternative to remain available for school districts who want to promote the teaching of abstinence to our young students. As he has said in the past, Governor Romney never had any parent complain to him that their kids are not learning enough about sex in school, but a number of parents wondered why we don’t speak more about abstinence as a safe and preventive health practice.

Brody then adds this commentary:

Pretty straightforward on abstinence only programs but is the Governor OK with federal dollars being used to support some of those other comprehensive sex ed programs? I asked that question in a follow up to the campaign two days ago. I never did get a response on that.

I really hope the answer to this is no federal funding on sex education. I am guessing that Romney would say no federal funding but allow states to make their own choices. If states pick up the tab, that would be their choice; but I hope even then he would say government has no role in educating youth about sex- therefore while legal it is inappropriate.

Here is quote from a 2006 press release:

“In my service as Governor, I’ve never had anyone complain to me that their kids are not learning enough about sex in school. However, a number of people have asked me why it is that we do not speak more about abstinence as a safe and preventive health practice,” said Romney.

“Abstinence education gives young people the support they need in making the decision to postpone sexual activity until they are mature enough to handle the emotional, moral and financial responsibilities of parenthood,” he said. “This is more than teaching kids to say no it will help them preserve self-esteem and build character.” Link

From our pal John, the most trusted pollster of 2004 and 2006:

Zogby National GOP Primary
(numbers in parentheses from last poll in February)

Giuliani – 26% (29)
McCain – 13% (20)
Romney – 10% (9)
F Thompson – 10% (7)
Huckabee – 4% (7)
Brownback – 3% (4)
All others – 1% or less
Undecided – 26% (19)

Survey was of 378 likely GOP primary voters, done May 17-20, and has an MoE of 5.1%.

Giuliani is down, but still retains his first place lead as McCain crashes – only 3 points ahead of both Romney and Thompson now. Huckabee and Brownback are moving backwards, not a desired outcome for second tier candidates, and no one else has any traction.

On the Dem side, Hillary opened up a 15-point lead on Obama, 39-24, with Edwards at 11 and Richardson back down at 2.

Okay, first things first: who in the world is Datamar? Not quite sure, and this is their first foray into polling the 2008 race, so take it with a grain of salt. That also means there’s no trendlines to report. Here’s the GOP side of things (PDF warning):

Datamar Florida GOP Primary

Giuliani – 27.0%
F Thompson – 22.4%
Romney – 17.6%
McCain – 11.9%
Huckabee – 3.1%
Paul – 2.1%
Brownback – 2.1%
Hunter – 1.6%
T Thompson – 1.5%
Tancredo – 1.3%
Gilmore – 0.3%
Undecided – 3.3%

Survey was of 607 likely voters, taken May 14-18, and has an MoE of 4%.

On the Dem side, Edwards actually leads Hillary by 2 points, 26-24, with Obama at 19 and Richardson at 7.

Obviously, some fishy things going on… Fred Thompson being that high and John McCain being that low not the least of them. This is also significantly higher for Romney than previous Florida polls. Or, perhaps this poll picked up on some trends…? We’ll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, cut it apart in the comments section.

Campaign Manager Michael DuHaime announced several Georgia endorsements on a conference call this morning. Among them current Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson (who will serve as State Chairman).

From the official release:

The Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee today announced that Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives Glenn Richardson will serve as the campaign’s Georgia Chairman. The campaign also unveiled endorsements from a host of Georgia elected and former Republican party officials in the first round of announcements for the Mayor’s Georgia leadership team.

“Rudy has demonstrated the kind of strong leadership we need in the White House and has a record of proven results that Georgians respect. I look forward to promoting the Mayor’s positive vision for the country across the state,” Richardson said.

“I’m honored to have someone of Speaker Richardson’s stature leading our efforts in Georgia and proud of the team we’re assembling,” Mayor Giuliani said.

In 1996, Glenn Richardson became the first Republican from Paulding County elected to the Georgia House of Representatives since Reconstruction. After serving as House Floor Leader and House Majority Leader, Richardson became Speaker of the State House in 2005. Richardson is the first Republican to serve as Georgia House Speaker in over 130 years.

Richardson was named legislator of the year in 2003 by the Republican Party of Georgia and has received numerous awards for his involvement in civic organizations, including the 2003 American Cancer Society Capitol Dome Award. In 2006, Speaker Richardson became chairman of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) and the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee (RLCC).

Also Endorsing Mayor Giuliani Today:

Senator Ronnie Chance, representing District 16
Representative Barry Fleming, representing District 117
Representative Jeff May, representing District 11
Representative David Ralston, representing District 7
Representative Jay Roberts, representing District 154
Former GA Republican Party Chairman Rusty Paul
Former GA Republican Party Chairman Bob Shaw
Former Mayor of Augusta, Bob Young

DuHaime stated that they will campaign hard here and that Georgia is a state they expect to win.

Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson will chair Rudy Giuliani’s Georgia campaign.

More to come…

Real Clear Politics is reporting on a new poll out of South Carolina that shows Rudy Giuliani moving into the lead.

South Carolina Republican Primary, conducted May 21-22, 2007:

• Rudy Giuliani: 18%
• John McCain: 17%
• Newt Gingrich: 17%
• Fred Thompson: 13%
• Mitt Romney: 8%
• Mike Huckabee: 6%
• All Others: 3% or less

This is the first South Carolina poll in awhile showing Rudy Giuliani ahead of John McCain. Additionally, Rudy also leads the three southerners in the nation’s first-in-the-south GOP primary, with Newt, FDT, and Huckabee all trailing Giuliani by varying degrees. Further, Mitt Romney, despite gains in Iowa and New Hampshire, remains decidedly in single-digits in South Carolina. This reinforces my belief that South Carolina will be Romney’s firewall for cultural and, ultimately, theological reasons. This may also make some sense out of the Team Rudy strategy to double-down on Florida and on the February 5th Super Primary. If Romney takes down McCain in Iowa and New Hampshire, but then is himself decimated in South Carolina, both McCain and Romney will be tattered, and the path will be clear for a Rudy cleanup in Florida, California, the tri-state area, and the big industrial states.

Here’s the latest from Diageo/Hotline:

Diageo/Hotline GOP National Primary, conducted May 6th-20th, 2007

Republicans

• Rudy Giuliani 26%
• John McCain 17%
• Newt Gingrich 10%
• Fred Thompson 9%
• Mitt Romney 8%
• Mike Huckabee 2%
• Sam Brownback 2%
• Tom Tancredo 2%
• All others < 2%

Click here for the Dems (PDF warning).

Some interesting notes:

-61% of respondents believe that illegal aliens should be required to return home in order to apply for US citizenship.

-42% believe that immigration should decrease compared to 23% who believe it should increase (and 26% who believe it should stay the same.)

Mayor Giuliani on Fox News’ “Special Report”:

“[W]hen you go so far as to suggest that the global war on terror is a bumper sticker or slogan, it kind of makes the point that I’ve been making over and over again. That the Democrats, or at least some of them, are in denial.”

That about sums up my feelings on the current state of the party of FDR, JFK, Harry Truman, and Scoop Jackson.

??????? Campaign Closet is what I am going to call those references out in the public domain that GOP presidential candidates would just as soon not see hit the light of day and be able to hide somewhere.

In my view, it is better that Republicans vet their own candidates in this primary so as not to nominate someone whom the Democrats will surprise general election voters with revelations about – as happened in 2000, when the George W. Bush DUI story leaked by Democrats on the weekend before the election gave the popular vote and nearly the Electoral College to Al Gore.

The Hotline is reporting that Senator John McCain has lost his political director in the key early primary state of South Carolina.

??????? Campaign Closet is what I am going to call those references out in the public domain that GOP presidential candidates would just as soon not see hit the light of day and be able to hide somewhere.

In my view, it is better that Republicans vet their own candidates in this primary so as not to nominate someone whom the Democrats will surprise general election voters with revelations about – as happened in 2000, when the George W. Bush DUI story leaked by Democrats on the weekend before the election gave the popular vote and nearly the Electoral College to Al Gore.

Jonathan Martin of The Politico reports that the New York City firefighters’ union is sending out a video attacking Mayor Rudy Giuliani to a quarter million of its members. That is a drop in the proverbial bucket unless the mainstream media pick up on it and give the tape free exposure all over the country.

Mayor Giuliani is in a unique political position, being arguably the GOP front-runner as well as the most controversial candidate in the Republican field. Entrenched New York City interests as well as social and religious conservative leaders have vowed to vigorously oppose his candidacy – and this is a formal start.

??????? With the decision of the South Carolina Republican Party yesterday to maintain their status as the first 2008 primary in the south by moving ahead of the January 29 Florida primary, look for this to put pressure on New Hampshire to move its primary (tentatively scheduled January 22) and Iowa to move its caucus (tentatively scheduled Janury 14) even earlier than had been planned, as Donald Lambro reports for The Washington Times.

And my guess is that party sanctions on the states of delegate reductions, that Iowa and New Hampshire are exempt from, for moving their primaries and caucuses before February 5 will never occur because the voters and presidential candidates won’t stand for them.