Spotting trends
July 3, 2007 at 4:49 pm by Wayne GarciaThere’s an interesting post over at pollster.com about the polling trends in the first five primary states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Florida and South Carolina). This is important because to really be in the running on the Feb. 5 Super-Duper-Tuesday, you probably 
have to win one of these five as an appetizer.
On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain are falling off the table in four of the five states (including Florida). For McCain, that is just another sign of the end of his candidacy, especially in light of fundraising problems and staff layoffs. Mitt Romney has to like his trending upward, but his rise is eclipsed by still-unofficial candidate Fred Thompson.
On the Democratic side, national polling frontrunner Hillary Clinton looks strong and heading up in Florida and New Hampshire; she’s slipped 
a bit in Iowa and South Carolina. Despite that slippage in the Iowa caucuses, she still is ahead in the latest polls by 1 point over John Edwards, with Barack Obama gaining. No wonder that Bill has joined her on the campaign trail to hold off that Obama rush.
A reminder: As always, polling at this early point in the race is a reflection of name recognition and final results can change. But dragging in the polls and having positions on the issues that run counter to your party (I’m looking at you, Sen. McCain) can kill your fundraising.
