A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows that former NYC Mayor Giuliani would be the Republican contender with the best fighting chance to take Connecticut's electoral-college votes away from Senator Hillary Clinton.

Clinton leads Giuliani 46% to 43% and no other Republican reaches even 40% support (see crosstabs). Clinton leads Arizona Senator John McCain 47% to 39% and sweeps aside former Senator Fred Thompson 52% to 34%. The former First Lady also disposes handily of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney 53% to 34%.

Of the four GOP contenders, Giuliani attracts the highest share (76%) of fellow Republicans.

These figures are similar to our survey conducted in late September.

The independent streak that returned a Democratically-disavowed Joseph Lieberman to the U.S. Senate last year may help explain why voters of this blue state are more likely to support Giuliani or McCain against Clinton. In national surveys, Giuliani and McCain are both perceived as more ideologically moderate than are Thompson or Romney.

Only 23% say they would definitely vote for Senator Chris Dodd if he were the Democratic nominee; 43% say it would depend on who was running against him. A majority of Connecticut voters (51%) think Dodd should give up his campaign for president.

A plurality of 43% think Rudy Giuliani is the Republican candidate with the best chance to win the presidency if nominated. An identical number, 43%, say that Hillary Clinton is the Democrat with the best chance to win it all. Nationally, 39% say Clinton is Very Likely to be the Democratic nominee while 19% say Giuliani is Very Likely to win the GOP nomination.

Clinton and Giuliani both lead in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Only 28% of Connecticut voters think George W. Bush is doing a Good (15%) or Excellent (13%) job as President. Another 14% say Fair. But 58% say the President has done a Poor job.

Republican Governor Jodi Rell first sat in the chief executive's chair in 2004 when her predecessor resigned under a cloud. In 2006 she easily won the office in her own right and 64% now think she's doing a Good (27%) or Excellent (37%) job. Twenty-four percent (24%) say Fair, 10% say Poor.

Sixty-one percent (61%) agree that police should automatically check the immigration status of anyone they stop for a traffic violation. Forty-eight percent (48%) believe that any illegal immigrants detected in this manner should be deported. Those figures are a bit lower than the national average.

Twenty percent (20%) believe that undocumented immigrants should be allowed to get a drivers’ license while 69% disagree. Nationally, 77% oppose drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants.

Forty-nine percent (49%) of the state’s voters believe global warming is caused primarily by human activity while 36% believe long-term planetary trends are to blame. Fifty-eight percent (58%) say the state is not doing enough to address the problem.

The survey was conducted in partnership with Fox Television Stations, Inc.

See survey questions and top-line results. Crosstabs available for Premium Members only.