New Polls Show Clinton and Giuliani Leading in Colorado

New Hampshire based American Research Group recently released results of two polls they conducted, one among 600 “likely Democratic primary voters” and the other among 600 “likely Republican primary voters” conducted in the last week. (Of course, Colorado is a caucus state, and does not plan to hold a Presidential preference primary).

According to the survey result, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) leads the Democratic race with 34% of the vote, followed by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) at 23%, and former Sen. John Edwards at 17%.

The race is apparently tighter on the Republican side, with Rudy Giuliani edging out Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for the lead, 25% to 23%.  Local Congressman Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) only receives support from 7%.

There’s more polling goodies after the jump…Trailing far behind are Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) at 6%, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) at 3%, and retired General Wesley Clark and Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) both at 2%.  The survey question also included Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and former Gov. Mike Gravel (D-AK), but neither received even 1% support.

The only other Republican candidate receiving double digit support (with 10%) is former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN), who now plays the New York District Attorney on NBC’s TV show Law and Order.  Further behind are former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) at 9%, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich at 8%, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) at 3%, and former Govs. Tommy Thompson (R-WI) and Mike Huckabee (R-AR) at 3% and 2% respectively.  Receiving less than 1% support are former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R-VA), Sen. Chuch Hagel (R-NE), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), former Gov. George Pataki (R-NY), and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).

The fact that Colorado relies on a caucus system, rather than a primary, is particularly important to the results of the polls because each survey includes interviews among unaffiliated voters (10% of the likely Democratic primary voters and 12% of the Republican sample).

The inclusion of independents proves to be especially helpful to Obama and McCain, and to a lesser extent Giuliani.

Among only those likely voters who are registered Democrats, Clinton leads with the support of 35%, while Obama receives 19% and Edwards garners 18%.

Among registered Republicans who say they are likely to vote, Giuliani leads with 24% of the vote, while support for McCain is slightly lower at 21%.

Comments are closed.