US:Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani's lead over his Republican presidential rivals has narrowed considerably, while Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has maintained her advantage in the race for the Democrat nomination, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, published yesterday.
Arizona senator John McCain, buffeted by lacklustre fundraising and his embrace of President George Bush's troop surge policy in Iraq, runs a solid second in the Republican nominating contest, but there is evidence in the survey that his focus on the war and on attracting conservative support has made him more polarising as a candidate.
Mr Giuliani remains the front-runner in the national poll, but his support has eroded. In a late February Post/ABC News poll, 44 per cent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents preferred Mr Giuliani for the nomination, a figure now down to 33 per cent. Mr McCain has held steady at 21 per cent.
Mr Giuliani's support dipped in part because of the possible entry of former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson into the Republican race. Mr Thompson ran third in this poll, with 9 per cent, tying him with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
Among Democrats, Ms Clinton led in the survey, with 37 per cent support to Senator Barack Obama's 20 per cent - 43 per cent of blacks preferred her to 34 per cent for Mr Obama.
Former vice-president Al Gore, who says he has no plans to run, had the support of 17 per cent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents; former North Carolina senator John Edwards is at 14 per cent.
Beyond the primaries, the survey paints the portrait of an electorate still evenly and deeply divided. Four of the six major candidates - McCain, Clinton, Giuliani and Romney - are considered unacceptable by at least 40 per cent of all Americans.
Mr McCain has become significantly less acceptable. Last May, 28 per cent of Americans said they "definitely would not vote" for him if he were to become the Republican nominee; now that number has soared to 47 per cent.
In that time he has shored up some Republican support but lost significant crossover appeal.
The Republican race continues to show considerable volatility.
Mr Giuliani's surge earlier in the year first highlighted Mr McCain's problems. However, the former mayor is out of step with socially conservative Republicans and his rapid rise has been followed by a period of settling. Over the past two months, Mr Giuliani has lost support among women, white evangelical Protestants, those over 45 and veterans.
Among Republicans who call themselves socially conservative, Mr Giuliani and Mr McCain are about even (21 to 20 per cent), but among the party's smaller socially moderate wing, Mr Giuliani enjoys a wide lead. - (LA Times/Washington Post service)