Republicans' Challenges: Plenty for Everyone

Leading Republican candidates all face significant challenges.

ByABC News
July 24, 2007, 6:27 PM

July 25, 2007 — -- From ideology to religion to simple unfamiliarity, the leading Republican candidates for president all face significant challenges, which add up to a lineup that's viewed a good deal less satisfactorily than their Democratic counterparts.

Given what they know, only about half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in this ABC News/Washington Post poll say the leading GOP candidates are "about right" on social issues. While 65 percent are satisfied overall with the field, that compares with 83 percent satisfaction among Democrats. And Republicans are barely more than a third as likely as Democrats to be "very satisfied" with their choices.

Lack of intensity also shows up in strength of support for the front-running Republican, Rudy Giuliani. Among Republicans who favor him for the nomination, just 32 percent "strongly" support Giuliani, down from 45 percent in April. On the Democratic side, by contrast, Hillary Clinton has 68 percent "strong" support; Barack Obama, 56 percent.

A third of leaned Republicans, moreover, see Giuliani as too liberal on social issues, more than say so about any of the other top candidates. That rises among some core Republican groups -- 51 percent of evangelical white Protestants call Giuliani too liberal, as do 42 percent of conservatives and 40 percent of those who oppose legal abortion.

THE RACE -- Giuliani nonetheless remains the preferred candidate: With support from 37 percent of leaned Republicans he continues to lead the field by double digits, as he has all year. John McCain and Fred Thompson trail him by a substantial margin, with 16 and 15 percent support, respectively.

Though these numbers are very similar to last month's, there have been changes. Giuliani is down from a peak of 53 percent support in February; McCain hit 23 percent in that same poll. (Thompson was not in the race at the time, though officially he still has yet to announce.) Mitt Romney has 8 percent support, with other candidates in the low single digits.