Giuliani Down 13 Points, Thompson Up By 12

As I predicted, "the prohibitive frontrunner" is getting his butt kicked. But it's still way too early for these polls to matter.

by Rod D. Martin
March 27, 2007

For the thousandth time, it's too darn early for any of this to matter. Except maybe it isn't.

The latest USA Today/Gallup Poll is out. And it's, well, interesting.

Rudy Giuliani, "the prohibitive frontrunner" (as his supporters would put it) just three weeks ago at a whopping 44%, watched his support shrivel by nearly a third, to just 31%. Meantime, the man who isn't running -- Fred Thompson -- shot up from zero to 12% just by suggesting he "might consider" a race.

Whoa! And there's more.

Mitt "the conservatives' savior" Romney dropped to within the margin of error, from 8% three weeks ago to just 3% (the same as Brownback, which could very well mean that both of them are at six or at zero). McCain picked up a couple points, moving to a respectable 22%; while Newt Gingrich -- the other man who isn't running -- came in at 8%, proving that he isn't star of a major prime-time drama.

Frank Newport points out that Republicans aren't likely to have a clear idea of …