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Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's breakneck rise in the national polls has reached Florida, prodding a fledgling band of supporters to throw together a ground game in the nation's fourth-largest state. Three Florida polls in the past week put Huckabee in first or second place, jockeying with longtime front-runner Rudy Giuliani. That's a stunning turn of events for a candidate who ranked near the bottom just last month and has invested little time and no money in the state. A strong showing by Huckabee in the Jan. 29 primary could upend Giuliani, who's counting on a rout in Florida to...

Huckabee continues to surge in Florida, according to a new poll conducted by Strategic Vision (R) to be released tomorrow. With a margin of error of +/- 5.5%, Giuliani and Huckabee are in close competition for first place with 25% and 21%, respectively. McCain comes in third with 15%, leaving Romney in fourth with 13%. Thompson has 10%, Paul has 4%, and Tancredo has 2%. These results show a different story from the last Strategic Vision poll conducted in this state, Nov. 7 to 9. Huckabee was fifth in that poll with 9%, while Giuliani had 31%. McCain, Thompson and...

In almost every appearance as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, Rudolph W. Giuliani cites a fusillade of statistics and facts to make his arguments about his successes in running New York City and the merits of his views. Discussing his crime-fighting success as mayor, Mr. Giuliani told a television interviewer that New York was “the only city in America that has reduced crime every single year since 1994.” In New Hampshire this week, he told a public forum that when he became mayor in 1994, New York “had been averaging like 1,800, 1,900 murders for almost 30 years.”...

FRANK LUNTZ, WWW.LUNTZ.COM: We had a lot of people participate and they are mad as hell. I have got to tell you something, in listening to what the Republicans have to say right now, they are very nervous about the future. They are not happy about the direction in Washington. And they really want a change. ..... LUNTZ: Thompson had several points during that debate where he really grabbed the audience's attention. But what I know your viewers want to see is the conflict. And one of the toughest conflicts was Mitt Romney verses John McCain over the issue of...

Rudy Giuliani continues to lead the Republican Presidential Primary in Florida with 27% support in the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey. That’s little changed from the 29% support he enjoyed in September. But, there are plenty of other changes including good news for Mitt Romney and bad news for Fred Thompson. Through it all, the frontrunning Giuliani now has a nine-point lead, up from six points in September. Romney has moved into second place with 19% support. That’s up eight points since September. Thompson has lost seven points and now earns 16% of the vote. In June, Giuliani and...

The WMUR-CNN poll of likely Republican voters conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows Romney with 33 percent support, up from 25 percent in the same poll in September. Giuliani has declined, slipping to 16 percent compared to 24 percent in September. Those polled also described Romney as the most likely to win the nomination, with 39 percent choosing him and 26 percent saying Giuliani could go the distance. Just 8 percent said John McCain has what it takes to win the nomination, but 18 percent of voters said they would vote for him, the same as in September....

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Saturday promised to cut federal funding for cities and states that he considers tolerant of illegal immigration, though he said he was unsure how deep the cuts would be. The former Massachusetts governor repeated his plans to deny funding to sanctuary cities, states that issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and states that allow the children of illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition discounts at universities. "They are practices that, if you will, extend this sanctuary state of mind we have," Romney told more than 200 people gathered at a public library. "I like...

Deconstructing Pipes(Mitt Romney's Real Health Care Record)Sally Canfield 15 November 2007 TownHall.com Since the Clinton Administration's ill-fated attempt to introduce government-run health care to the United States, mountains of paper have been produced analyzing our nation's health care system. And while Republicans and Democrats have spent countless hours debating themselves, the one group that has been left out of this debate is the American people. With 47 million Americans without some kind of health coverage, and millions more worried they will lose what coverage they have, one Governor knew the time for talking was over. What Governor Romney proved...

Every four years pundits get to swing for the fences. Only the timid split differences and hairs. The pundits worth reading will declare what they see in the very cloudy crystal ball. Here's my take. There are two very separate battles within the fight for the GOP presidential nomination. There is the contest between Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Fred Thompson to be the conservative challenger to Rudy Giuliani. And then there is the contest between that challenger and the former New York City mayor. It is Rudy's hope that the race to be his opponent for the Republican nomination...

According to Real Clear Politics, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to enjoy a solid double digit lead in both Iowa and New Hampshire. He also holds a more narrow lead in South Carolina and Michigan and appears to be in a statistical tie in Nevada. This suggests to me that if he is able to hold on and win the Iowa caucuses his path to the nomination seems clear and direct, for a number of straightforward reasons. First, other than Mike Huckabee, Romney is the only candidate with momentum in Iowa. Guiliani is not a factor here, Fred Thompson...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows Rudy Giuliani on top with a nine-point lead over Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination. Giuliani attracts 26% support from Likely Republican Primary voters nationwide while Romney earns 17% of the vote. John McCain remains in third at 13%, Fred Thompson is at 12% and Mike Huckabee attracts 11%. Ron Paul's is the top choice for 5% and no other Republican candidate reaches 2% (see recent daily numbers). A new survey released today shows Ron Paul attracting 8% of the vote as a Libertarian candidate in...

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, seeking to protect his lead and fend off challenges from rivals in this early-voting state, assailed Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee over supporting tuition breaks and broader sanctuary for illegal immigrants or their children. The former Massachusetts governor singled out two of his Republican opponents and likened them to Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying Tuesday: "There are those people in both parties who are in a sanctuary state of mind, who believe in sanctuary cities, who believe in policies which are sanctuary in nature." In campaign appearances and advertisements in...

GOP Primary -- 5 in Double Digits, 4 within Striking Distance of Giuliani, Who Remains the One To Beat: In a Republican Primary for President of the United States held in South Carolina today, 11/13/07, two months to the vote, New Yorker Rudolph Giuliani finishes 1st at 26%, with 4 other Republicans bunched in his rear-view mirror. Mitt Romney is in 2nd place at 20%, just ahead of Fred Thompson who finishes 3rd at 18%. John McCain is 4th at 14%. Mike Huckabee is 5th at 12%. SC Republican primary voters are divided on what issue the next president should...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows Rudy Giuliani on top, Mitt Romney in second, and Fred Thompson sinking in the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination. Giuliani attracts 27% support from Likely Republican Primary voters nationwide while Romney has moved up a couple of points to 16%. John McCain remains in third at 13% while Thompson is now tied with Mike Huckabee at 11%. Ron Paul's support fell a point to 5% and no other Republican tops 2% (see recent daily numbers). In the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton is the top...

Fred Thompson's campaign for president has collapsed. Well, at least, among the bookies. I've been giving readers regular updates on the betting in the presidential election, but absolutely nothing has been more dramatic this fall than Thompson's market meltdown. According to the betting at the Iowa Electronic Markets, the TV actor's chances of winning the GOP nomination have slumped in just six weeks from nearly 30% to less than 10%. As recently as June, just after the former Senator announced he was running, he was the favorite in the betting, at nearly 40%. The numbers are similar over at Dublin-based...

Robertson to Back Giuliani By LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writer MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Pat Robertson, a prominent Christian leader and social conservative, will endorse Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, GOP officials confirmed Wednesday. The former New York mayor backs abortion rights and gay rights, positions that put him in conflict with GOP orthodoxy, and has been trying to convince cultural conservatives to overlook their differences with him on those issues. That makes the support of a high-profile religious conservative like Robertson a particular boon. Giuliani, the front-runner in national popularity polls, and Robertson will make the endorsement official later...

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is drawing contrasts with rival Rudy Giuliani on the issue of immigration in a new mailing being sent to Iowa Republican activists. In the mailing, Romney touts his plan to slash funding for cities that declare themselves immigration sanctuaries. "When America's major cities _ like New York, San Francisco and many others _ adopt sanctuary city policies, they serve as magnets for millions of illegal immigrants to cross the border and take advantage of these legal protections," states the mailing, which began arriving at Republican homes this week. Sanctuary cities forgo strict enforcement of immigration...

Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007 "The Laura Ingraham Show" October 31, 2007 Governor Romney On Senator Clinton And Driver's Licenses For Illegal Immigrants: Laura Ingraham: "Did you think that Hillary got hit at all or wounded or did they really not really give her many body blows." Governor Romney: "No, I didn't think she took many body blows. She demonstrated herself – she was tap dancing so much that I thought I turned it to 'Dancing with the Stars.' She was refusing to answer the most straight questions that were given to her. 'Do you support illegal aliens receiving driver's licenses?'...

New Winthrop /ETV poll in South Carolina (Oct 7-28, 522 likely GOP primary voters, MoE 4.29%, and 534 likely Democratic primary voters, MoE 4.24%). The big news in the poll comes on the Republican side, where Romney, Giuliani and Thompson are in a statistical tie for the lead, with nearly 1 in 3 likely primary voters still undecided: Republicans: Thompson 17.9 Giuliani 16.5 Romney 16.5 McCain 9.2 Huckabee 5.4 Paul 2.1 Undecided 29.9

JOHNSTON, Iowa - Mitt Romney says the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination will come down to Rudy Giuliani and a more conservative challenger. Like Mitt Romney. It's no surprise that Giuliani is doing well in national polls of Republicans, Romney said Friday, because candidates with more conservative views on social issues such as abortion and gay rights are splitting the support of like-minded voters. At some point, the former Massachusetts governor said, the party's conservative base will coalesce around a single candidate, making it tougher for Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City. "Those of us who represent...