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Republicans 2008: Giuliani 28%, Romney 15%

August 16, 2007

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Rudy Giuliani remains the top contender in the national race for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in the United States, according to a poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 28 per cent of respondents would support the former New York City mayor in a primary.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is second with 15 per cent, followed by actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson with 12 per cent, and Arizona senator John McCain with 11 per cent. Support is lower for former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Texas congressman Ron Paul, California congressman Duncan Hunter, Kansas senator Sam Brownback, former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson, and Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo.

On Aug. 14, Brownback suggested that governors lack foreign policy experience, saying, "We've got to walk more humbly and a lot more wisely than the current president. I really believe this next president needs to go in with knowledge on foreign policy and not learn it on the job. We have a tendency to elect governors as president because people like executive experience. I don't have any problem with that. The problem is most governors don't have foreign policy experience."

In American elections, candidates require 270 votes in the Electoral College to win the White House. In November 2004, Republican George W. Bush earned a second term after securing 286 electoral votes from 31 states. Democratic nominee John Kerry received 252 electoral votes from 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Bush is ineligible for a third term in office. The next presidential election is scheduled for November 2008.

Polling Data

If the 2008 Republican primary for president were being held today, and the candidates were (the following), for whom would you vote?

Aug. 2007

Jun. 2007

Apr. 2007

Rudy Giuliani

28%

27%

27%

Mitt Romney

15%

10%

8%

Fred Thompson

12%

15%

14%

John McCain

11%

15%

19%

Newt Gingrich

7%

5%

8%

Mike Huckabee

2%

2%

2%

Ron Paul

2%

1%

--

Duncan Hunter

1%

1%

1%

Sam Brownback

1%

1%

1%

Tommy Thompson

1%

1%

1%

Tom Tancredo

1%

1%

--

George Pataki

n.a.

n.a.

1%

Other

3%

2%

2%

Would not vote

2%

1%

1%

Not sure

16%

17%

16%

Source: Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 611 likely Republican voters, conducted from Aug. 7 to Aug. 13, 2007. Margin of error is 4 per cent.