Thompson Faltering - Hillary Rising in Latest Poll

By Rick Moran

Fred Thompson's entry into the race for the GOP nomination, much anticipated as it was, appears not to have excited too many Republicans. In fact, the most recent CNN poll shows a significant drop-off in support for the former Tennessee Senator:

Fred Thompson got into the Republican race with great expectations. And sure enough, just after he got in last month, polling showed Thompson and Rudy Giuliani were just about tied for front-runner.

But since then, Thompson's taken a lot of flak for a lackluster campaign from party activists in Iowa and New Hampshire. Support for his campaign has also wavered. The new CNN poll by the Opinion Research Corporation released Tuesday shows Thompson's support dropping -- now at 19 percent, down from 27 percent in September.

He's now running second, slightly ahead of Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, who has 17 percent. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, still leads with 27 percent. Of the remaining Republican presidential candidates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney received support from 13 percent of the Republicans polled,

In addition to what some perceive as a lackluster performance, Thompson's downbeat message warning of future economic catastrophe as a result of budget deficits, underfunded Social Security, and out of control entitlement spending has not resonated well with audiences.

It also appears that John McCain's resurgent campaign is drawing off support from Thompson. McCain is climbing back into the race as our fortunes in Iraq continue to improve - not surprising since the Arizona Senator has been the most consistent backer of our efforts in Iraq in the party.

On the Democratic side, the Hillary machine keeps chugging along, increasing her lead over Senator Barack Obama to 51-21% up from 46-23% last month.

Have the Democrats settled on Hillary as a candidate? Not in Iowa where the polls show a tight three way race among Clinton, Obama, and John Edwards. An Obama win in Iowa is still possible which, if it occurred, would more than likely burst the bubble of inevitability surrounding Hillary and make it a real horse race. Obama is extremely well funded and could give Hillary a real run for her money if he can break through in Iowa.

Despite his lead in the Republican race, Rudy Giuliani's support is pretty soft with a majority of his supporters telling pollsters they back him less than "enthusiastically." That means that there's still time for another candidate to step up and challenge the former New York City mayor for the nomination.