THE LATEST FLORIDA POLL NUMBERS...NO GREAT SURPRISES

Strategic Vision has released the results of it's most recent poll of 1,200 likely Florida voters conducted August 10-12. The margin of error is plus/minus 3%. The numbers in parentheses next to their current percentages is the comparison upward or downward to the last poll taken in mid-June

Democrats only: Who is your first choice for the Democratic nomination in 2008?
Hillary Rodham Clinton 40% (+3)
Barack Obama 20% (-1)
John Edwards 16% (-4)
Bill Richardson 9% (+5)
Joseph Biden 3% (0)
Christopher Dodd 1% (-1)
Dennis Kucinich 1% (0)
Undecided 10% (-2)

Senator Clinton continues to increase her lead, and my impression is that many Floridia Democrats, as seems to be the case across the country, are ready to give her the nomination.

Republicans only: Who is your first choice for the Republcan nomination in 2008?
Rudolph Giuliani 34% (+4)
Fred Thompson 18% (-6) (Not yet officially announced candidate)
Mitt Romney 10% (+2)
John McCain 8% (-3)
Newt Gingrich 3% (-1)
Tom Tancredo 3% (+1)
Mike Huckabee 3% (+1)
Ron Paul 2% (0)
Sam Brownback 1% (-1)
Tommy Thompson 1% (0) (Has withdrawn from the race)
Duncan Hunter 1% (0)
Undecided 16% (+5)

It seems to me here that the swooning over a possible Fred Thompson candidacy has cooled somewhat. This was, of course, before this week's announcement that Republican Party of Florida communications director Jeff Sadosky was stepping down to join Thompson's team in a similar role. McCain is out of double digits as his campaign continues to freefall. And there are more GOP undecideds this time, so people are either having second thoughts or are just still shopping.

Governor Charlie Crist's job performance still enjoys an exceptionally high approval rating, 71% among those interviewed. As for the state's two U.S. Senators, Bill Nelson (D) has a 53% approval rating compared to Mel Martinez's (R) 43%. As for their opinion of President Bush's job performance, the approval numbers are slightly higher here than the national ratings, with 37%.

And one other interesting question asked of the 1,200 likely voters across the Sunshine State:
Do you favour an immediate withdrawl of the United States military forces from Iraq within the next six months?

Yes 51%
No 38%
Undecided 11%