December 20: Poll Update

A new South Carolina poll from Live 5 News/Survey USA puts Huckabee 10 points ahead of Romney:

In the span of just five weeks the Republican candidates have gone topsy turvey. Compared to our Exclusive Live 5 News Survey done on November 13th, Rudy Giuliani has plummeted from first to fifth dropping 14 percentage points. On the opposite end, Governor Mike Huckabee who five weeks ago was in 5th place gained 16 points.

"Social conservatives are clearly going for Governor Huckabee and if a significant amount of those folks had been leaning in Mr. Giuliani's direction that would be one reason why, certainly Huckabee's support is coming from someplace," explains our election analyst Brian McGee.

Our survey polled more than two-thousand people likely to cast their vote in next month's primary. As it stands now according to our poll Huckabee has 28 percent of the vote, Mitt Romney follows with 18 percent. John McCain and Fred Thompson are virtually tied with 16 and 15 percents respectively. Giuliani rounds out group with 12 percent.

The latest national poll from FOX News shows a 3-way race between Giuliani, Huckabee and McCain:

If Republican voters were hoping for a wide open presidential race this holiday season, they are clearly getting their wish. A new FOX News poll shows that Rudy Giuliani (20 percent), John McCain (19 percent) and the surging Mike Huckabee (19 percent) are clustered together at the top of the GOP hill—with Mitt Romney (11 percent) and Fred Thompson (10 percent) still within striking distance. Since a large share of Republican voters are still undecided (13 percent), this race is about as "up for grabs" as any in recent memory.

Giuliani suffered the biggest drop in support since November, losing a full 13 points. On the other hand, Huckabee has shot up from 8 percent in November to 19 percent in the current poll. Romney (up 3 percent) and McCain (up 2 percent) scored small gains in the last month.

As has been widely reported, the overall character of the Republican race has changed dramatically over the last several months. In fact, as late as September, Huckabee registered only 2 percent in a FOX News poll. Barely three months later he is a now co-front-runner.

Huckabee's national poll average at Pollster.com now catapults him into 1st place:

Huckabee 23.2
Giuliani 21.2
Romney 15.4
McCain 13.3
Thompson 10.1