Little Difference in Presidential Race Following Straw Poll, Surveys Find 
Email this article
Printer friendly page
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 23, 2007
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — New polls of the Republican and Democratic races for president find little change from before the Republican straw poll two weeks ago. On the GOP side that’s likely because three of the top contenders for the party’s nod chose not to compete in the contest in the early battleground state.
Mitt Romney won the early August straw poll and Mike Huckabee and Sam Brownback came in second and third respectively.
However, it appears only Romney and Huckabee have benefited and that those benefits apply only in Iowa.
Romney had the lead in most surveys heading into the straw poll with the backing of anywhere from 21 to 27 percent of Iowans. In the two polls since the mammoth event, conducted by Zogby and Strategic Vision, Romney places at 31 and 33 percent.
Both surveys find Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson still approximately tied for second place at about 13-14 percent apiece.
Huckabee shot up from the 1-3 percent range to 8 percent in both of the most recent polls and all of the other Republican candidates stayed in the low single digits.
Polls in other early primary states like South Carolina and Florida have shown Romney picking up a few percentage points following the Iowa straw poll victory, but national surveys show the race largely unchanged.
Fox News and Rasmussen have both conducted national surveys following the Iowa straw poll and both found Giuliani hanging on to his pre-Iowa lead with support in the mid 20s.
Fred Thompson, who appears ready to enter the presidential race next month, holds onto a second place showing with support in the upper teens. And Romney, despite his victory, still find himself in third place in national polls with support in the lower teens.
Both polls show the campaign of John McCain is on the ropes as the Arizona senator has had fundraising and staff problems and was a no-show in Iowa.
Huckabee did not show up in the national polls at the same clip he is at in Iowa or South Carolina and surveys at this point in the presidential race make it appear the primary election will be a three-man contest between Giuliani, Thompson and Romney.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama have all had a lead in a poll in Iowa in recent weeks. Clinton currently leads in New Hampshire and in South Carolina, with Obama in second place in both states.
Clinton enjoys a strong lead in almost every national poll while Obama is in second place anywhere from 12 to 20 points behind.
Edwards is barely holding on to third place and has the backing of just 6 percent of Democrats in the most recent survey, that Fox News conducted. That survey included Al Gore, who has said he won’t run for president and one done by Rasmussen Reports shows Edwards at 15 percent when Gore isn’t included.
