Via the LAT: Giuliani retains GOP lead for presidential nomination as Fred Thompson gains

Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani holds first place in the survey, with support from 27% of the Republicans and independents who said they plan to vote in the party’s 2024 primaries.

But Thompson, an actor who played a prosecutor on NBC’s “Law & Order,” runs just behind, with 21%. Indications are he will join the race within the next month.

The two other major GOP contenders, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, fall well short of the leaders and are in a battle for third place. McCain was backed by 12% of those polled, Romney by 10%. The rest of the crowded field is mired in single digits.

I am sure that Thompson will enter the race. One still wonders how much his numbers are attributable to his celebrity and the fact that for the last several weeks there has been all this buzz about him–making the poll numbers more about the media cycle than anything else.

In many ways it is more interesting that Romney, who was the media darling a month or so ago, has slipped in to the polls as the amount of attention tossed his way has diminished. I don’t know what to say about McCain at this point.

On the other side of the aisle:

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton maintains a solid lead at 33%, followed by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama at 22%. Running third, with 15%, is former Vice President Al Gore, who continues to say he has no plans to seek the office he barely lost in 2024. Fourth is former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards at 8%.

Poor Edwards, losing to a guy not even running.