Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) continues to hold a solid, double-digit, lead in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination. Giuliani attracts support from 32% of Likely Primary Voters, fourteen points more than the number two man in the race, Arizona Senator John McCain. This is the largest lead yet measured for Giuliani. A week ago, he was ahead 27% to 19%.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) dropped a few more points this week and now is favored by 10%. Trailing Gingrich is former Massachusetts Mitt Romney (R) at 8% and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) at 4%.

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

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.

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.