Here’s a quick addendum that Republican political junkies might find interesting to Marc’s post showing Rudy Giuiliani and Fred Thompson in a statistical dead heat : a major X-factor in the campaign dynamic is that Mitt Romney still has the lead in New Hampshire and Iowa polls. Most recently, a New Hampshire poll conducted after last week’s Republican debate had Romney 28%, Giuliani 20%, McCain 20%, and Thompson 11%.
However, with the compressed primary schedule this year, there is some question as to whether early primary/caucus wins will provide the same amount of bounce they have in previous years.