Even as Hillary Clinton moves toward her coronation on the Democratic side, the Republican nomination for President remains muddled.

Most of the polls show Rudy Giuliani continuing to lead, including the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, which gives him the most commanding lead of any recent survey (if you click through to the raw numbers, scroll down to reach the GOP Presidential figures). It has Rudy drawing 34% to second-place Fred Thompson's 17%, with McCain third and Romney fourth. Even so, his intensity of support appears to be waning somewhat.

Rasmussen sees it differently. They've been alone among the major pollsters in showing Fred Thompson with a slight lead in their daily tracking numbers since September 10, just after he announced - but even RR has shown Rudy ticking slightly upward lately and assuming a 23-22% lead for the first time since Thompson went ahead (Romney third and McCain fourth).

The Real Clear Politics average of major polls since 9/12 shows Giuliani with 28.8 over Thompson's 21.5, McCain's 14.0, and Romney's 9.3. Huckabee continues to lag the field (and reportedly collected under $1 million for the quarter), so his vaunted bounce after the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll hasn't helped outside the Hawkeye State. Ron Paul still doesn't draw enough support in national polls to rank in the top five, but he may soon appear with the leaders if/when Huckabee falters (note his fundraising success in the entry below).

Romney still seems mired in the low double-digits nationally and fighting with McCain for third. However, he leads in Iowa and New Hampshire, his strategy being to make an impact in the early states and turn the race on its head from there. An ARG (often controversial in their findings) Poll in South Carolina showed him vaulting into the lead from fourth place, which raised some eyebrows. ARG defended their results, though, noting his recent ad blitz in the state made him the only candidate on air here. I still doubt he has any chance in the Palmetto State - unless he pulls off the first two wins.

McCain got something of a boost with his "No Surrender" tour, but fundraising remains a problem. He may be forced to follow John Edwards to the public financing trough, which will limit his ability to spend freely in the Super Duper Tuesday semi-national primary on February 5th. He still draws good numbers from conservatives, despite his well-known apostasies on immigration, campaign finance, and the "Gang of 14," and does surprisingly well on the "1st and 2nd choice" question.