This is, obviously, not a good sign for the Rudy Giuliani campaign. A poll set to be released next week will have the former New York City mayor trailing Sen. John McCain in his home state.
New York Post writer Fred Dricker announced on Tim Russert's show this Saturday morning:
"Tim, you'll find this interesting. One poll that's going to come out here next week, I'm sworn to secrecy on some of the details, but not on this part -- it is going to show John McCain overtaking Rudy Giuliani in his home state, I am told. That would be extraordinary."
Giuliani, it should be noted, is regarded with a fair level of antagonism by many in New York City, who soured on him as mayor in the years leading up to 9/11. But up till now, discussion over which candidates would compete for the New York vote had centered around a hypothetical Giuliani v. Sen. Hillary Clinton general election match up, not the GOP primary months beforehand.
Explained Dicker:
"His issue has evaporated. His issue was fighting crime, fighting terrorism. Now he's trying to fight a terrible economy and trying to make the case that he's really Mr. tax cutter. I mean, he is re-branding himself in Florida with Steve Forbes running around trying to say he was really about tax cutting before, but he wasn't. He was about crime fighting and leadership. And now of course with the sub-prime mortgage problems and the economy tanking, it's just not his issue, and to the extent that his issue is out there, I think McCain has it."