Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton have an early lead in Wisconsin in their respective party's presidential nominations, a poll released Wednesday found.
The poll surveyed 800 Wisconsinites and was conducted by Strategic Vision, LLC.
Republican voters were split between Giuliani with 26 percent, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson with 22 percent and Arizona Senator John McCain with 15 percent.
""Giuliani leads here, as he does in nearly every state that we poll,"" said David E. Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Strategic Vision. ""For Thompson this poll is a mixed blessing—he edges out McCain but is still losing his home state to Giuliani.""
Many reporters see McCain and not Giuliani as the frontrunner, said UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin.
""Some analysts don't have Giuliani as their frontrunner because they look at his social liberalism and conclude that it's not going to work with the socially conservative Republican Party—and also his slow approach to starting the presidential campaign,"" Franklin said.
On the Democratic side, Clinton leads the way with 36 percent. Trailing Clinton is Illinois Senator Barack Obama with 21 percent and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards with 17 percent.
""Senator Clinton is well ahead of the competition in Wisconsin,"" said Johnson. ""Her one concern must be that either Obama or Edwards falters and their supporters coalesce around her surviving opponent.""
Franklin warned not to rule out any of the candidates with a low percentage of support in the polls at this point.
""For just about every campaign since 1972, either the eventual winner or the very strong second place candidate started in single digits.""
