Memo Wars: Romney Campaign Slams Giuliani's Viability

Mayor Giuliani’s “momentum-proof” national polling lead, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny all walk into a bar…

You’re right. None of them exist.

Why the “frontrunner” label and fifty cents won’t even get you a cup of coffee nowadays:

That's from Mitt Romney's spokesman, Kevin Madden, who is getting a darned bit tired hearing Rudy Giuliani make the electability argument.

Mayor Giuliani continues to hang his hat on national polls that show him garnering around 30 percent support, yet fully 100 percent of the electorate knows who he is. That is a very big gulf to have between the number of voters that know him and the number that actually support him.

National poll samples are largely a reflection of name awareness at this point in the campaign. The polls taken of voters in the early primary states reflect the opinions of voters who are the most engaged and most informed about the candidates. For Mayor Giuliani to have 100 percent of Iowa voters know who he is, yet only around 11 percent of those voters support him...that's a major problem for his candidacy.

The latest polls out in New Hampshire, Florida and South Carolina show that Governor Romney is perfectly positioned to be competitive in the early election contests.

Comments

Whoa: Somebody's in denial... Has anyone with the Romney camp looked at the REAL polls?

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Posted by matt | November 12, 2007 12:43 PM

Two fake conservatives attacking each other? They should run for presidency of France than US.

Posted by Tim | November 12, 2007 12:43 PM

GO ROMNEY !!!!! MITT ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT 2008!!

Posted by Debrar | November 12, 2007 1:12 PM

matt: Where are the REAL polls? I think the two latest NH polls are "real". And the latest Iowa polls. Where are they mistaken?

Posted by Roger | November 12, 2007 1:44 PM

Just like his flipflopps Mitt's polls blow with the wind.

Posted by DF | November 12, 2007 1:50 PM

State by state, Mitt Romney is winning! Once people have the chance to listen to him and hear what he has to say, they rally behind him in support of him as our next American President.

Posted by Debrar | November 12, 2007 1:55 PM

Wonderful! Mitt is on track to win. He is winning or very competative in all of the early pre-Feb 5th primaries except Florida, and the latest polls show him rising there too! Unlikely that anyone can touch him after sweeping Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Michigan, Nevada, and most likely Forida. With the newest republican endorsement in California it seems inevitable he will take the nomination.

General Election - HilaryCare won't stand long next to a REPUBLICAN who has been there done that with healthcare. He can say, yeah I actually DID that! As the Republican Party quickly is, the nation will see the incredible leader that is Mitt Romney!

Posted by Eric | November 12, 2007 2:10 PM

Obviously any Mitt detractor, republican or democrat, has to actually come up with an actual criticism rather than trying to say stupid utterings like, Well let's see what Mitt says next week.

Reality check Rudy, Obama, Hillary....labeling Mitt a JFKerry isn't working. He's the only guy with a healthy builiding base of support.

Posted by Brock | November 12, 2007 2:18 PM

For anyone who wants a truly unbiased measure of a candidate's electability, there are only two measures.

1. Fund-raising.

2. Polling Data. (But it has to be "apples-to-apples" polling data.)

The reason that polling data is always "taken with a grain of salt", is because the interpretation of the data is so easily manipulated.

The only "apples-to-apples" polling data that gives an objective measure of Republican candidates is from the states where the candidates have a somewhat comparable name recognition among those being polled. (IA, NH, SC, MI, NV.)

Let's take Pennslyvania for example. Is there any likely Republican voter in PA that hasn't heard of Giuliani? Exactly, they all know all about him. Now, how about Romney? Exactly, there are a sizeable number who have NO idea who he is. (He would have to spend HUNDREDS of millions of dollars in advertising to have everyone know about him across all 50 states. Giulinan and Thompson already have that without spending a dime.)

So is polling data from PA (or any of the other ~45 states where Romney hasn't spent time/money campaigning) a measure of whether likely Republican voters like Giuliani better than Romney? or simply a measure of who they have heard of?

Of course not. It's simply a measure of who they have heard of.

The real question that the media (and Republicans at large) need to be asking is why Giuliani's polling numbers plummet in states where Romney is actively campaigning.

Posted by Brucer | November 12, 2007 2:28 PM

Somebody show me a politician that HASN'T changed position, ever. I didn't think so. That's the nature of the beast. All politicians have changed political stances at one time or another. If you don't believe that then good luck with a life full of people taking advantage of you.

Posted by Jesse | November 12, 2007 3:42 PM

The flip flop label cracks me up. I find this particularly amusing when it is the response from Hillary's campaign. How Hillary's campaign can try to dismiss Romney as a flip flopper with a straight face is beyond me.

Posted by Eric | November 12, 2007 3:44 PM

Fact of the matter is that when people get to know all of the top-tier candidates, they have been choosing Mitt Romney every time. It doesn't take a lot of brains to realize that.

Posted by Casey | November 12, 2007 5:04 PM

Time for America to face reality. Mitt Romney IS the Conservaive Candidate of this race. If you want a conservative President vote Romney. If you don't vote Giulli... how do you spell it?

Posted by svb | November 12, 2007 9:19 PM

Brucer has it right. Consider this: In Iowa, where Guliani has 100% name recognition his numbers are just about the lowest in the nation...why?

Because Iowa also knows Mitt because he's been campaigning there. He also now has HIGH name recognition there so the people are actually making a comparison between candidates instead of reciting a familiar name...and he is kicking Guliani's tush.

Seriously, follow the commonly-quoted polls, but make sure to compare those with the name-recognition polls. Mitt has both the backing and the personal financial resources to make himself known in other states as the primaries surge on. A lot of people really don't see this one coming.

Posted by BrucerIsRight | November 12, 2007 10:52 PM

Like a snowball rolling down a steep hill... Talk about momentum. Mitt Romney wins Iowa. Who the hell is that! Romney takes NH. Hey, I heard of that guy. Didn't he win in Iowa too?... Romney upsets the field in SC... Romney takes Michigan in a landslide. and the beat goes on.... Be afraid Rudy, be very afraid.

Posted by hawnstyle | November 13, 2007 5:37 AM

As Americans become better acquainted with Mitt Romney they will discover a man in whom they can place great trust. My fellow christians should pause, take a deep breath, and look around the hype to the man, Mitt Romney. Let's follow the pattern that Jesus set for judging things. Let's judge him by his fruits, by the kind of person he is, and by his accomplishments. An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. We have no enemy in Mitt Romney. He will not only support our conservative values, but will advance them aggressively. This is a great day for conservative values. Go Mitt!!

Posted by Boley Thomas | November 13, 2007 2:12 PM

Barrack Hussein Obama and Hillary Clinton CANNOT beat Huckabee! 'Huckabee is Lincolnesque': frugal beginnings, a great visionary, and a man of deep spiritual & moral conviction. He is also 'Reaganesque': a great communicator, iconic optimist, and a strong former governor. Huckabee will draw more conservative & moderate dems away from the democratic ticket than Reagan ever dreamed about. Mike Huckabee gives new meaning to the words 'Charm offensive'!

I Like Mike too! He actually belives what he is saying. 'Flip Flop Romney' will say anything to get elected. Lets go James Dobson - Endorse this guy already!

HUCKAPPEAL! Pat Robertson can go sell insurance!

Posted by bryan | November 15, 2007 9:57 AM

Take, it is here...

Posted by Cefbreargeags | May 29, 2008 9:55 PM