Huckabee Now 2nd In CA

A new SurveyUSA poll dated 12/14 -12/16 has Huckabee picking up undecideds and peeling some support from Rudy who still leads with 28 to Huckabee's 20. Romney is third with 16, McCain is at 14, with Thompson at 13.

CA GOP PRIMARY -- Huckabee Begins to Stick Wrench in Giuliani 'Big State' Strategy: In a Republican Presidential Primary in California today, 12/17/07, seven weeks to the vote, Rudolph Giuliani wins, but his margin of victory, which two months ago was 21 points, is today 8 points, according to SurveyUSA's 9th pre-primary CA tracking poll, conducted exclusively for KABC-TV Los Angeles, KPIX-TV San Francisco, KGTV-TV San Diego and KFSN-TV Fresno. Giuliani's strategy, which is to concede early primary "small" states such as Iowa and New Hampshire but to sweep big states such as CA, FL and NY on February 5, had been since May 2007 looking good, except for a momentary blip caused when Fred Thompson announced his candidacy on Jay Leno. But now, Giuliani's support is eroding, from 39% two months ago, to 28% today. Several candidates are making inroads, but none more so than Mike Huckabee, who finished 5th with 8% support 6 weeks ago, and who finishes 2nd with 20% support today. Mitt Romney at 16%, John McCain at 14% and Fred Thompson at 13% are effectively tied for 3rd place. Among Conservative Republicans and Pro-Life Republicans, Huckabee and Giuliani are effectively tied, Giuliani down from 14 points in both groups, compared to two months ago. Among Pro-Choice Republicans, Giuliani still leads 2nd place John McCain 2:1.