Ron Paul hits 8% in South Carolina

Mitt <nobr>Romney </nobr> and Fred Thompson are tied for the lead in South Carolina's Republican Presidential Primary.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds both men earning 21% of the vote from Likely Primary Voters. That’s a big change from September when Thompson was on top with support from 24% and Romney trailed the frontrunner by nine percentage points.
Trailing the two leaders are Rudy Giuliani at 13%, Mike Huckabee at 12%, John McCain at 9%, and Ron <nobr>Paul </nobr> at 8%. Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter each earn support from 2% while 13% are undecided (see crosstabs).
Those numbers reflect a seven-point drop for Giuliani, a nine-point gain for Huckabee, little change for McCain, and a six-point jump for Paul.
Thompson, perhaps enjoying a boost from his recent endorsement by the National Right-to-Life Committee, leads among Evangelical Christian voters. Romney leads among other Protestants. Thompson leads among men while Romney leads among women.
Romney, in addition to his strong showing in South Carolina, leads the earliest voting states of Iowaand New Hampshire.Giuliani leads in Florida and in the national polls.
In South Carolina, as in other states, the race remains quite fluid. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Romney’s supporters say they might change their mind before voting. For the other candidates, 47% to 57% of their supporters say the same thing.
Thompson is viewed favorably by 76% of the state’s likely primary voters, Giuliani and Romney by 72% each. For Romney, that’s a ten-point gain from the previous survey.
McCain continues to draw mixed reviews—60% favorable and 39% unfavorable. Huckabee is less well known—57% have a favorable opinion of him and 29% unfavorable. Ron Paul is viewed favorably by 35% and unfavorably by 50%.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of likely primary voters believe officers should check the immigration status of anyone they pull over for a traffic violation. Fifty-five percent (55%) say that illegal immigrants discovered through this process should be deported. Democratic primary voters are evenly divided as to whether such a policy would be a temptation to discriminate.
Seventy percent (70%) oppose drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants. Among all adults nationwide 77% are opposed to drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants.
Seventy-two percent (72%) say that President Bush is doing a good or an excellent job while 13% say fair and 14% say he is doing a poor job. Ron Paul leads among those primary voters who say the President is doing a poor job.
Seventy-five percent (75%) say that Governor Mark Sanford is doing a good or an excellent job. Sixteen percent (16%) say fair and 8% poor.

Ron Paul is viewed favorably by 35% and unfavorably by 50%.

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:thumbsup2:

and Huckabee is still surging better & polling better & looking better

so much for ron paul pulling sub 5% in the early states

as you two had been saying about a month ago

:tongue2:

Willie99 said:

and Huckabee is still surging better & polling better & looking better

Click to expand...

sounds like a huckster fan on the fence in attending the iowa caucus due to a football game

:nohead:

turnout should be low :aktion033

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Republican Faithful Await a Savior in Iowa

By Lois Romano
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 21, 2007; Page C01

LE MARS, Iowa -- There is a comforting certainty to life in this conservative hamlet 25 miles north of Sioux City, where Christian men gather every Wednesday at noon to be fortified by fellowship and prayer. Folks are quite proud of the 10-foot-tall ice cream sundae statue at the center of town, a symbol of the 120 million gallons of Blue Bunny ice cream churned out annually here at the family-owned dairy.

But these days, there is an uncertainty about politics and their civic responsibility that is unsettling. This has been rock-solid Bush country. Conservatives and evangelicals were largely at peace in the knowledge that their president shared their Christian values. But this year, they aren't at all sure anymore where to put their trust for 2008 -- or whether they should even bother trying.

Listen to Rich Cargin, a construction business owner and man of faith, articulate his thinking on the GOP contest here:

"I like Huckabee," he says. "Romney -- I wouldn't hold it against him because he's a Mormon, although I have to wonder. . . . But that doesn't trouble me as much as his change of positions. You have to wonder whether he or Giuliani would put people on the bench that reflect my Christian values."

So does this mean that Cargin can be counted on to attend the Jan. 3 caucuses and support Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister? Not necessarily.

"There's a football game that night -- it's going to be really tough."

The Orange Bowl is only one of the distractions plaguing Iowa's Republican Party six weeks before the caucuses. As Huckabee poll numbers take a huge leap in Iowa, GOP leaders fret that there's not enough passion in the fractured party to propel voters to the caucuses.

"There is a void -- a piece of the puzzle is missing," laments Ray Hoffman, the chairman of the state party who comes from this western part of the state.

"The field just never felt settled. There's been a lot of waiting -- waiting for Gingrich, waiting to see if Fred Thompson would catch fire. Now, I think for a lot of committed conservatives, they wonder, do I just stand back or hold my nose and vote for someone I don't agree with but who can maybe beat Hillary?"

Nowhere is this ambivalence playing out more than in Le Mars, a town of 10,000 people. There are about 40 blacks and 200 Hispanics living in this community, according to the 2000 Census. In most ways, Le Mars is a paragon of Republican Iowa, where exit polls in previous years show that about three-quarters of GOP caucus-goers identify themselves as conservatives, and more than one-third as evangelicals.

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor with the affable manner, would seem to be the natural choice here, and a Washington Post-ABC poll conducted over five nights in Iowa ending Sunday shows Huckabee's support in the state tripling since July -- bringing him within striking distance of Mitt Romney's well-heeled operation. Sixty-eight percent of Huckabee's support comes from self-identified evangelical Protestants.

But do the people who say they favor him feel compelled to vote for him, to make their voices heard this year?

continue here...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112002302.html

i love this quote later on the article

i mean i hate hillary but....

just hilarous quote

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"I say we have to go vote because if we don't vote, then all the women will vote and we'll have a woman in the White House and then we got problems," bellows Larry Timmons, who is in the construction business, from the back of the room. This gets a huge laugh. But he's serious.

"God," he notes, "did not plan for a woman to run everything."

tiznow said:

Republican Faithful Await a Savior in Iowa

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On his way...

http://bp1.blogger.com/_5d_fpdUHmxc/R0MC_gjyK1I/AAAAAAAAAhw/ep7W574fYPc/s1600-h/dont+compromise.jpg

tiznow said:

"God," he notes, "did not plan for a woman to run everything."

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Well, there's the final nail in the coffin for Ron Paul in Iowa.

:nohead:

more good news for paul

"I am hearing 'what difference does it make?' " he says. "They are less and less trusting of government."

Moes says he tell his 1,000 congregants that the church is the institution with responsibility to effect change in the community. "We can't rely on one man or the government any longer," he says.

Joe Contrarian said:

Well, there's the final nail in the coffin for Ron Paul in Iowa.

:nohead:

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he's talking about the general election prior to that he basically said he's not participating in the caucus

the paragraph prior to that was

They pledge to vote in the general election even if they skip the caucuses and are resigned to the fact that they may have to vote for -- in their words -- "the lesser of two evils."

the less that show up the better for the moonbats

bottom line this article paints a picture of apathy in the evangelical iowa republican ranks after 8 years of bush letting them down

no if only we can get a blizzard in iowa on jan 3rd

arty: