Panic on the Right as America’s Mayor takes lead in polls

[Doondoo]

Conventional wisdom that Rudy Giuliani is too socially liberal and combustible to win the next Republican presidential nomination is taking a battering.

A slew of polls show the former Mayor of New York opening a lead of up to 20 per cent over his declared rivals among likely Republican primary voters.

The phenomenon of a thrice-married supporter of abortion, gay rights and gun control creating such enthusiasm in a party dominated by Christian conservatives is a cause of puzzlement, bordering on panic, among Washington’s pundits.

Some insist that it cannot last and that Mr Giuliani’s popularity will evaporate once voters are reminded of the positions he has taken and his tarnished record as an arrogant mayor with dubious connections in New York City.

Others are trying to find a reverse gear for their opinions because no Republican candidate in modern history has been so far ahead at this stage in the contest and then failed to win the nomination.



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1449743.ece