Rudy Still the Favorite for GOP, and For President

A new NBC/Marist poll shows that Rudy Giuliani is still favored to win both the GOP nomination and the general election (from Instapundit):

RUDY GIULIANI tops the choice for Republican nominee in 2008. Condi is second, and McCain a somewhat distant third (and he's fallen over the past year). Meanwhile, on the Democratic side Hillary is the runaway favorite. Matched against Hillary, Rudy wins by 7. Rudy's the only candidate that a majority of Americans want to run in 2008.

All the details are here.

I think the nomination is Rudy's for the asking, despite some views that might give religious conservatives some heartburn. Abortion is a big deal to conservatives, and Rudy is pro-choice, but Captain Ed points out why that may not be that much of a problem:

I'm not as concerned about his pro-choice views, because (a) he supports judges that practice strict construction, and (b) other than judges, presidents have little affect on the debate anyway.

Agreed.