Hotdish Thursday: Republicans in the Fire

Tonight it’s the Republican candidates’ time to shine, as their debate will be live on MSNBC at 6 p.m. central.  As always, Jeff Fecke will be doing liveblog coverage from 6 to 7:30 pm, and we will have commentary on how all of the Republican candidates performed shortly after 8.

But how do Republican candidates poll against Democratic candidates?  Eric Black has some information that may surprise you.

more inside

The essential dilemma of this exercise, which Kohut confronts directly, is that if you look at polls of attitudes or of party leanings, 2008 looks like (with apologies to George Tenet) a slam dunk for the Dems. But polls of hypothetical matchups between Giuliani or McCain versus Clinton or Obama show the GOPers tied or ahead.

Meanwhile, Smart Politics has Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,  ahead of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in Iowa.

Despite trailing Rudy Giuliani in most national polls by double digits, Arizona Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain has opened up his first lead over the former New York City mayor in the Hawkeye State, 26 to 19 percent (American Research Group, April 27-30). Two months ago, the ARG poll had Giuliani leading 31-23, with McCain closing the gap at 29-29 in mid-March.

And for polling junkies, there are numbers galore here at The Right’s Field.