(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Two contenders are tied in the national race for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in the United States, according to a poll by Hart/McInturff released by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News. 20 per cent of respondents would back former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in a 2008 primary, while 20 per cent would support former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is third with 17 per cent, followed by Arizona senator John McCain with 14 per cent, and actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson with 11 per cent. Support is lower for Texas congressman Ron Paul, California congressman Duncan Hunter, and Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo.

On Dec. 14, Huckabee criticized the current government’s foreign policy, saying, "The Bush administration’s arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad. My administration will recognize that the United States’ main fight today does not pit us against the world but pits the world against the terrorists." On Dec. 20, U.S. state secretary Condoleeza Rice dismissed the remarks, declaring, "The idea that somehow this is a go-it-alone policy is just simply ludicrous. And one would only have to be not observing the facts, let me say that, to say that this is now a go-it-alone foreign policy."

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

Let me mention some people who might seek the Republican nomination for president in 2008. If the next Republican primary for president were being held today, for which one of the following candidates would you vote? (Leaners included)

Source: Hart/McInturff / The Wall Street Journal / NBC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,008 American adults, conducted from Dec. 14 to Dec. 17, 2007. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

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