by Mona Gallagher

Created on: November 17, 2007   Last Updated: July 02, 2008

"It ain't over till the fat lady sings." For Rudy Giuliani, she may be warming up to sing at the Iowa caucus, the first test of the candidate's strength in the Presidential primaries.

In about six weeks the voting begins and Giuliani must win at least one of the two major contests, the Iowa caucus or the New Hampshire primary to remain in the running for the Presidential nomination of the Republican Party.

Polls show Giuliani trailing far behind the leader, Mitt Romney. There isn't much time for Giuliani to develop a new winning strategy.

RECENT POLLS

As of November 15, 2007, Mitt Romney leads in the NY/CBS polls with 27 percent followed by Mike Huckabee at 21 percent and Giuliani at 15 percent. (Poll Published in the New York Post on November 15, 2007.)

An Iowa poll (Nov. 10 through 14) shows Romney at 26 percent, Huckabee at 24 percent, Giuliani and Thompson at 11 percent, and McCain at 10 percent. Those who pledged definite support for Romney was at 71 percent in contrast to 33 percent definite support fot Giuliana.

They're just polls of course, they could be wrong. While there's always room for error, many people in the general population perceived Giuliani as the front-runner in the Republican primaries. Many already had him elected as the next President in some circles.

"The fact is that the GOP caucus in Iowa is still up in the air, as people make up their minds. "The door's open for someone to come in and rally this thing," said Chuck Laudner, the state GOP executive director. The game starts new every day'"

Giuliani needs a win, but he's not impressing anyone at the Iowa caucus. If he doesn't win here, his chances are slim at the New Hampshire primary because New Englanders are favoring Mitt Romney in the race. Where does that leave Giuliani? It leaves him out of the race.

Giuliani has national name recognition over the other candidates, but the delegates, unlike the general population don't pick candidates for popularity and name recognition. They're more serious about choosing someone who can win the Presidency.

Giuliani once remarked that he was the only candidate who could beat Hillary Clinton, but it appears he won't make it that far in the political arena. According to another source, McCain was the only candidate that was of concern to Clinton, but that's all taken care of too. Without the needed resources, McCain is dead in the water.

Giuliani maybe too liberal for most republicans. Unlike Hillary Clinton, he hasn't been able to appear "centrist" to the American public. Ideology and politics are intertwined.

On a personal level, Giuliani seems entirely likable in the way he presents himself. However, its difficult to see substance when it comes to issues that matter like health care or global warming. His ideas on health care and global warming are either vague or not appealing to many people.

Giuliani needs a win to stay in the running.

Source:

http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/REPUBLICANS_I OWA?SITE=IACED&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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