A new Rasmussen Reports poll has detected a slide in the support for Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. The former New York mayor had held a strong lead over Hillary Clinton in their hypothetical general election match up, but that lead is now completely gone. Giuliani had maintained a lead over Clinton for five straight months. In last month’s poll, Rudy led Hillary by eight points. Two months ago it was nine points. Now Giuliani leads Clinton by a single point 48%-47%. This is within the statistical margin of error, so the, “what if†match up is now considered a dead heat. In other polls this week, Giuliani saw his lead slip nine points in the race for the GOP nomination, and his lead vanish in a potential match up Barrack Obama.
Giuliani’s socially liberal positions and checkered personal life are not doing him any favors right now. The reality here is that all voters knew about Giuliani was that he was the mayor of New York when 9/11 happened. I have always thought that it was doubtful that Giuliani could climb to the presidency solely on the backs of thousands of people who were both the victims and the real heroes of that horrible day. He was mayor of New York on 9/11, so what?
 If Bloomberg would have been the mayor on 9/11, does this mean that he also should automatically be considered presidential material? The bottom line here is that Rudy is too socially liberal for the “red states.†While I do think that it is silly to expect a presidential candidate to have a perfect personal life, the kind of decisions a person makes in their own life reveal a great deal about their character, and how they will handle the tough professional questions.
Contrast the personal lives of Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton against that of an Edwards, Obama, or Romney, and it isn’t a pretty picture. That is why this poll is so important. Giuliani has slipped against the weakest and least likable of the top three Democratic contenders. If Rudy can’t hold her off, then that is evidence that there are some problems on the horizon. The scene could only get darker for Rudy once his more conservative opponents start advertising, and hammering away at his liberal record. He already struggled in South Carolina earlier this week when he had to defend his support of public funding for abortions. Right now we may only be beginning to see the cracks in Giuliani’s campaign, but I still think his decline is going to come hard and fast, once conservative voters hear about what he stands for.
Link to the Rasmussen Reports poll
Jason Easley is the editor of the politics zone at 411mania.com. Â His news column The Political Universe appears on Tuesdays and Fridays at www.411mania.com/politics
Jason can also be heard every Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pm (ET) as the host of The Political Universe Radio Show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepoliticaluniverse 
3 users commented in " Rudy Giuliani’s momentum slide "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackHe was mayor of New York on 9//11 – so what?
Yeah, and Ray Nagin was mayor of New Orleans when Katrina hit.
Compare the two, and there’s the answer to your question.
There is something seriously wrong with a candidate’s moral compass when they condemn the manufacturers of firearms for causing ‘death and human suffering’ as they file their own personal lawsuit against them (yep, Rudy did that), but then later in April 2001, that same candidate welcomes the abortion lobbyist group ‘NARAL’ to New York City with warm words and praise for their eugenicist founder Margaret Sanger. And when Rudy’s own mother states that her son is not a conservative Republican “he thinks he is, but he isn’t”, that should wake up most Republicans to the fact that the former Mayor of New York City is not going to play in Peoria, or anywhere else in Red State America. And the RudyBots continue the mantra of “only RUDY can defeat HILLARY” when the fact is, there is no way to know that because Rudy decided to hide behind his prostate in 2000, and told Rick Lazio to “get in there and fight kid!” – and if that isn’t enough, why are Republicans being beat over the head with this meme about ‘we must support Rudy’ when Rudy couldn’t even be bothered to support George Pataki for Governor in ’94, and came out and supported *Mario Cuomo*?!? And if Rudy DID somehow become the nominee, there is no guarantee that he could even carry New York, which has trended Democrat since 1988. The last Republican to carry New York was Ronald Reagan. I knew Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was a friend of mine, and Rudy Guiliani is NO Ronald Reagan…!! (thank you Lloyd Bentsen, lol)
Before Giuliani, murders in NYC averaged nearly 2,000 per year, nearly all black or hispanic. After Giulani it dropped almost immediately to 700, now, thanks to his policies, about 500, nearly all black or hispanic. If you’re against what Giuliani did in NYC you are for the murders of an additional 1,200 to 1,500 per year, nearly all black or hispanic. But then, what’s that against the preservation of the prescious liberal agenda? You’v got to have your priorities straight.
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