DOUBLELY GOOD NEWS FOR THE LEADERS


The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute survey of Floridians was released Wednesday, with no great surprises, including the fact that actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Dalton Thompson's support has surged among Republicans across the Sunshine State

The poll, taken May 24 - June 4, included 1,174 Floridians --- 467 Republicans and 472 Democrats. The overall margin of error is +/- 2.9 percent among Democratic and Republican respondents each, with the overall margin of error of +/- 2.9 percent


On the Republican side, former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani leads the pack with 31 percent, a fall of six percentage points. Although Thompson has not officially entered the race, he scored second place in the survey with 14 percent. U.S. Senator John McCain is third with ten percent, a drop of five points, followed by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney with eight percent and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich with seven percent.


Former First Lady and current U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton maintains her sizable lead among Floridians on the Democratic side, followed by Senate collegue Barack Obama by a margin of 34 percent to 16. In third is former Vice President Al Gore with 13 percent, with former U.S. Senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards with 11 percent. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is back with but five percent.

Thompson is already gaining endorsements, led by Congressman Adam Putnam (R - Bartow) earlier in the week and . Also this week Mitt Romney's campaign announced that Polk County GOP Chairman and Lakeland attorney Eric Allen will co-chair his local efforts along with retired consultant Fernando Valverde of Solvita. In addition, the Romney camp announced his "National Hispanic Steering Committee", which includes a number of Floridians.


Obama could be hurt in Florida by the apparant decision of the state's top black elected officials, Congressman Kendrick Meek (D - Miami) to endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton. Two other Members of Congress from South Florida, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D - Weston) and Alcee Hastings (D - Fort Lauderdale), announced their endorsements for Ms. Clinton earlier today.

And so it goes...