Below The Beltway

For their own reasons, Rudy Giuliani and Barak Obama both seem like the most unlikely possibilities to head their respective parties’ Presidential tickets in 2008. Giuliani is admittedly out-of-step with the GOP platform on issues ranging from abortion to gay marriage. And Barak Obama, while a good candidate in many respects, is generally seen as too young and inexperienced to run for President in 2008.

At least that’s what the conventional wisdom says. A recent poll, however, indicates that a Giuliani-Obama race in 2008 is not quite as unlikely as the experts think:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Americans have the warmest feelings about former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, according to a poll released Monday that scores the popularity of national leaders.

The Quinnipiac University’s ”thermometer reading,” taken the week after the Nov. 7 election, asked voters to rate their feelings for 20 leaders on a scale of 0 to 100.

Giuliani, a Republican weighing a presidential bid in 2008, scored the highest at 64.2. Obama and McCain, who are also considering a 2008 campaign, finished next at 58.8 and 57.7.

President Bush was 15th out of 20 while his secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, was fourth and former President Clinton fifth.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton scored ninth of the 20 leaders with a score of 49. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee who was roundly criticized before the election for suggesting that students who don’t study could end up stuck in Iraq, came in last at 39.6.

I’ve already written about Giuliani’s clear plan to run in 2008, and it also appears that Senator Obama may be looking at a run for the White House.

2008 looks more interesting every day.

Via Andrew Sullivan