Of course they’re wrong!! They’re not taking into account all of the information. They’re not polling with a 3rd party candidate and the onslaught of anti-Rudy stuff from NYC hasn’t begun yet either.
If you think saying that a 3rd party candidate can “go and pet himself on the back for getting Hillary elected” will deter such a candidacy, you have some serious waking up to do.
Your assertion that matchups of the general election at this point shed any light on how the actual election will turn out is really great. Just ask President Mondale, President Dukakis, President Gore, and President Kerry how that turned out.
You can also look at the internals of any of those polls for an indication of why Fred Thompson polls lower than Rudy nationally: He isn’t as well known (yet).
Fred Thompson is the only viable candidate that can keep our coalition together, which is vital to winning the general election. I personally feel that his appeal to moderates will go FAR beyond what Rudy’s ever could. You may (incorrectly) feel differently, but the fact remains that you do not throw away core constituencies on the vague promise of ‘conversions of moderates’ to happen at a later date. It’s suicide.
There’s no guarantee that there will be a 3rd candidate if Rugy gets the GOP nod. I hope that the GOP won’t self destruct if Rudy gets the nomination..
If you think that Thompson can attract larger amounts of moderates, I’ll ask you the same that I asked in my previous post: HOW?? What does he have to offer to the Moderates?
Look, personally I’d rather see a President Thompson than Giuliani BUT I’d rather see a President Giuliani than Clinton... Sure, it’s still a while until the primaries and a lot of things can happen. I’m a strategic voter and I’ll vote for whoever seems to have the best chance against Hillary at the time of the primaries. I’m in Florida and Florida is a early state, so I’ll have to make up my mind until January.. If Thompson will be ahead of Giuliani in matchups with Hillary, I will vote for Fred Thompson.. If Giuliani is ahead, I will vote for him. My number 1 priority is not to have a president Hillary Clinton!