McCain moves ahead of Hillary, Obama in Rasmussen

Rasmussen Reports:

New polling data released today (Dec. 24) shows that John McCain has opened up a six-point lead over Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House. At the same time, the former First Lady leads Mike Huckabee by four.

Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney have the highest level of core opposition among the leading Presidential candidates--47% are poised to vote against each of them. At the opposition end of the spectrum, John McCain has the lowest level of core opposition. On a lighter note, most of the leading candidates have released holiday videos for your viewing pleasure.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows that five Republican hopefuls are in double digits but not one of them reaches the 20% level of support. In the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination, it’s Mike Huckabee at 19%, Rudy Giuliani 16%, John McCain and Mitt Romney at 15% each, and Fred Thompson at 11% (see recent daily numbers). Ron Paul currently attracts 6% of Likely Republican Primary voters nationwide.

Thompson is now viewed favorably by 67% of Republican voters, McCain and Giuliani by 65%, Huckabee by 64%, and Romney by 59%. Among all voters, McCain has the highest favorability ratings of any candidate in either party—55%. He is viewed favorably by 43% of Democrats and 60% of those not affiliated with either major party (see key stats for all Republican candidates).

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republican voters view Giuliani as politically moderate or liberal. Most also see McCain in that light and a plurality see Romney as moderate or liberal.

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This earlier poll (Dec. 20) also shows McCain beating Obama, but by a smaller margin. The endorsements have clearly helped McCain in national polling. I suspect to that the news on the war has also helped. His steadfast support for the war and the new strategy appears to be paying off with the good news out of Iraq. We could certainly do worse, i.e. Hillary Clinton. McCain's problem is whether he can translate this national support into enough momentum and money to make a move past New Hampshire.

Captain's Quarters has more on the McCain surge. "... McCain has a 15-point advantage with men, and a dead heat with women, negating Hillary's general-election advantage. Surprisingly, he beats Hillary in every age category, and even manages to win 23% of Democrats -- an indication that a Hillary nomination will suppress the Democratic turnout. McCain also gets 30% of the black vote, which would be historic for the Republicans in any presidential election, and comes within nine points on the non-white, non-black "other" ethnic category."

At least this surge is not as strange as the one for Huckabee. It does indicate the volatility of this election cycle.