We’re at the point in the Presidential race where we’re going to be getting new poll numbers almost every day, and today is no exception.
First, on the national level, a new LA Times/Bloomberg poll shows that Rudy Giuliani still retains his lead over the Republican field on a national level, but Mike Huckabee is coming on strong:
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) — Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is surging nationally in the Republican presidential race as he runs better than 3-to-1 ahead of his nearest competitor among religious conservatives.
A new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows that Huckabee, with 17 percent support, trails only longtime front-runner Rudy Giuliani, with 23 percent. Huckabee has been running strong in the first voting state of Iowa, though well behind the leading candidates in national surveys. In this latest poll, he forges ahead of Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mitt Romney.
More interesting, though, is the Rasmussen Reports tracking poll released yesterday which shows Huckabee actually tied with Giuliani:
With less than a month to go before the Iowa caucuses, the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that Rudy Giuliani has fallen back in the pack in the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination. Giuliani’s support has fallen to 18% and four other candidates are within six percentage points of the lead. Mike Huckabee is enjoying an amazing surge and now shares the top spot with Giuliani at 18%. Close behind are John McCain at 14%, Fred Thompson at 13%, and Mitt Romney at 12%. Ron Paul attracts 7% of Likely Republican Primary voters nationwide and no other Republican candidate reaches 2%
Clearly, Huckabee is on the rise nationally as well as in Iowa, but, so far, at least, he hasn’t made a dent in New Hampshire:
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney holds a wide lead over his Republican rivals in New Hampshire, where he is seen as the strongest leader and most electable presidential candidate in the field, but the GOP race there remains unsettled a month before the nation’s first primary, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Romney has the edge on most issues and candidate qualities tested in the new poll, and his strength in New Hampshire contrasts with his far shakier position in Iowa. He led throughout the summer and fall in Iowa, but recent polls show him locked in a competitive race with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
(…)
Romney enters the final month of campaigning with a sizable lead drawing support from 37 percent of likely primary voters, nearly double that of his closest competitor, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), who registers at 20 percent. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is third at 16 percent.
(…)
Huckabee’s rise in Iowa has made him the target of his Republican rivals, but he is stuck in the single digits in New Hampshire, with 9 percent. Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), who has predicted he will raise more than $12 million this quarter, is at 8 percent. Fred D. Thompson, the former senator from Tennessee who entered the GOP race to considerable fanfare in September, gets the support of 4 percent of likely voters.
A Huckabee win in Iowa, followed by a Romney win in New Hampshire sets the stage for a showdown between the two of them in South Carolina, where the race is about as close as it can get right now.
