Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) has moved a step closer to officially enter the 2008 race for the White House, but polling in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination remains little changed. Giuliani attracts 27% of the vote, down from 29% a week ago. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that Senator John McCain’s (R) support has held steady at 19% among Likely GOP Primary voters.

Rasmussen Reports releases updated polling data on the Republican nominating contest every Tuesday. Results for the Democrats are updated on Mondays.

While Giuliani and McCain remain in the top two slots, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) dropped a few points and now is favored by 13%. Trailing Gingrich is former Massachusetts Mitt Romney (R) at 9% and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) at 4%.

Over the past month, ideological perceptions of John McCain have shifted somewhat. Today, 28% of American voters view the Arizona Senator as politically conservative. That’s up from 16% in December. However, that shift is not helping McCain in the GOP competition because most of the change has come from Democrats and unaffiliated voters who are now more likely to see McCain as politically conservative than moderate.

In fact, while a plurality of Democrats and unaffiliated voters see McCain as conservative, a majority of Republicans see the Senator as politically moderate.

Perceptions of Giuliani have not shifted in the past month. Most Americans (52%), and two-thirds of Republicans (66%), see Giuliani as politically moderate. A plurality of Democrats and unaffiliated voters share that assessment. Among all voters, 28% see the former Mayor as politically conservative while 12% see him as liberal.

Those perceptions help explain why Giuliani consistently outperforms McCain in general election match-ups against leading Democrats. Giuliani leads -ups against every Democrat including Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, former Senator John Edwards, and former Vice President Al Gore.

McCain trails both McCain Edwards and Obama while a Clinton-McCain match-up is a toss-up.

McCain may be hampered by the situation in Iraq (considered the most important issue by voters). His personal favorability ratings have declined from 59% in December to 52% in January. Most Americans believe we should be reducing the number of U.S. troops fighting in that country while McCain supports the President’s call for more troops.

See a summary of all match-ups along with favorability ratings and perceptions of the candidates’ ideology. A summary is also provided for Democratic contenders.