Abortion Advocates Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton Lead Southern Poll

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 26, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Abortion Advocates Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton Lead Southern Poll Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 26
, 2007

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new survey of both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates conducted in five southern states shows Rudy Giuliani, the pro-abortion former New York City mayor and Sen. Hillary Clinton, also an abortion advocate, topping all others.

Elon University recently released the results of their poll, which was conducted from February 18-22 by its Institute for Politics and Public Affairs.

Looking at the Republican presidential candidates, a plurality of those polled haven’t made any decision with 31 percent of respondents who identified themselves as Republicans saying it was too early to tell and 25 percent saying they didn’t know yet.

Giuliani has the backing of 21 percent of GOP voters, Sen. John McCain of Arizona had 16 percent and Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts got 3 percent.

None of the other Republican candidates drew more than one percent, including Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Reps. Duncan Hunter of California, Tom Tancredo or Colorado and Ron Paul of Texas, and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.

On the Democratic side, 30 percent of those polled backed Clinton while 14 percent supported pro-abortion Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and 8 percent supported pro-abortion former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.

Edwards’ number is particularly low considering how well he did in southern Democratic primaries in 2004 and his status as the only southern candidate in the Democratic field.

However, of those surveyed, 24 percent said it was too early to decide and 22 percent didn’t know who they would support.

Hunter Bacot, the poll’s director, told AP "While the number of people who aren’t sure who they will support in the upcoming election shows that we’re very early in the process, it is somewhat unexpected to see Hillary Clinton, a New York senator, doing so well in the South."

"It is particularly unexpected with a viable Southerner, John Edwards, in the race," he said. "If these findings hold over time, the race for the Democratic nomination may be over before it starts."

On both sides, however, these early polls likely reflect more about name identification than breadth and depth of support among likely primary voters.

Looking at Republican candidates, Giuliani’s level of support is expected to drop once more GOP voters learn that he is pro-abortion and disagrees with them on other political issues.