Thread: SC: Rasmussen - McCain 24% Huckabee 24%

Now you know why Huckabee signed the No Amnesty pledge. Not because he's against amnesty, he's just trying to win a primary.

South Carolina: McCain 24% Huckabee 24%
Thursday, January 17, 2008

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of South Carolina’s Republican Presidential Primary shows that John McCain and Mike Huckabee are tied at 24%. In a race that has already seen four different candidates with the lead, much could still change in the coming days--7% of voters have yet to make up their mind, 10% say there’s a good chance they could change their mind, and another 24% might change their mind.

Mitt Romney attracts 18% support and Fred Thompson 16%. Those figures are little changed from the previous survey. Both Romney and Thompson have led in South Carolina at some point over the past several months. The latest survey was conducted the night after Mitt Romney’s victory in Michigan. Ron Paul attracts 5% support and Rudy Giuliani 3%. Giuliani is betting his entire campaign on a strong showing in Florida, where he is now tied for the lead with three others.

In South Carolina, however, McCain and Huckabee have been battling for the top spot for several weeks. Huckabee was ahead following his victory in Iowa. McCain took a narrow lead after his victory in New Hampshire. Then, just before the Michigan Primary, McCain opened a nine-point lead, 28% to 19%. McCain’s lead grew as Fred Thompson chipped away at Huckabee’s support.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of South Carolina Republican Primary voters say that the economy is their top voting issue. Twenty-three percent (23%) name immigration. Exit polling showed that these issues hurt McCain in Michigan but they may not be the best issues for Huckabee, either. Among those who see the economy as the most important issue, McCain currently leads Huckabee by eight points. Thompson and Romney currently earn the most support from those who name immigration as the top issue.

Seventeen percent (17%) of the state’s Likely Republican Primary Voters named national security as the top issue while 14% said the War in Iraq. McCain and Thompson are the top choices for those who name national security as their number one issue. McCain and Huckabee are essentially even among those who name the War in Iraq as their top priority.

McCain, Huckabee, and Romney lead nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. McCain also has a slight edge over Giuliani in the Super Tuesday Primary in New Jersey.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Huckabee’s supporters are “certainâ€

RON PAUL '08 instead

www.ronpaulmarch.com