Pure Horserace: Rudy's Hands-Off Approach

New Yorkers knew Rudy Giuliani as the no-nonsense mayor whose campaign to crack down on crime and clean up the Big Apple extended all the way down to the squeegee men on the streets. But GOP primary voters are getting to know a far different side of the presidential candidate. The once iron-fisted, my-way-or-the-highway leader seemingly is becoming a live-and-let-live candidate.

The transformation began earlier this year when Giuliani was faced with questions about his support for gun-control measures while seeking the nomination of a party whose core members recoil at anything they see as an infringement on the Second Amendment. So far on the trail, Giuliani hasn't renounced his support for gun control measures he supported as mayor, but has been quick to say that it's an approach that doesn't work everywhere. So not to worry all you red-state gun owners, he's not about to take them away from you.

This week, Giuliani's hands-off approach encompassed a few more slippery issues. Touring the state of Alabama, he was asked for his thoughts on whether it would be appropriate for the Confederate flag to be flown over the State Capitol there. According to several reports, Giuliani fell back on his one-size-doesn't-fit-all philosophy, saying he would leave that up to the people of the states to decide. "We have different sensitivities, and at different times we are going to come to different decisions, and I think that is best left up to the states," Giuliani said, as quoted by the New York Times.

During a stop in Atlanta on Wednesday, Giuliani was questioned about a proposal that would lead to a formal apology by the state of Georgia for its one-time support of slavery. Again, Giuliani said that was for Georgians to decide. According to an Associated Press report, Giuliani said, "different states are going to have different views on that, just like they're going to have different views on guns, just like they're going have different views on controversial social issues."

Giuliani's biggest weakness in the Republican field has always been his social views, which in many areas clash with the majority of GOP primary voters. On some issues, particularly abortion, he has firmly held to his positions. That tactic has at least afforded him the benefit of consistency, which makes his recent approach all the more curious. Can he be rock-solid and highly flexible at the same time?

McCain's April Showers Continue: John McCain has taken plenty of knocks in the media this month due to disappointing fundraising numbers and an awkward visit to Iraq — and now he's taken a knock in the polls as well. A new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll shows McCain in third place among Republican hopefuls, behind former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who isn't even officially running.

The Times notes that McCain's 12-percent showing is his lowest in any national poll to date. As recently as a month ago, he was vying with Giuliani for the No. 1 spot in some surveys.

According to the poll, Giuliani leads the field with support from 29 percent of respondents. Thompson followed with 15 percent. His rise and McCain's fall probably aren't a coincidence. Social conservatives might be wary of Giuliani at the moment, and McCain's stumbles provide them an opportunity to jump to the next-best opportunity that comes along.

Trailing both men and McCain was former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who had 8 percent — a pretty poor showing if it turns out Romney has spent a lot of the $20 million he reported raising in the first quarter of this year.

Clinton Pulls The Short Straw: The L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll also showed Hillary Clinton with comfortable leads over her top rivals for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama and John Edwards. But another poll released Thursday shows that party activists are highly skeptical of Clinton on the campaign's central issue: Iraq.

An unscientific straw poll conducted among members of liberal activist group MoveOn.org showed that only 11 percent thought Clinton offered the best hope for leading the country out of the war in Iraq. That put her in fifth place, behind Obama, Edwards, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

The poll is unlikely to be representative of Democratic primary voters — there's almost no chance of Kucinich garnering enough votes in any primary to equal the 17 percent he won in the MoveOn.org survey. But it is significant that Clinton ran behind three candidates with a legitimate shot at the nomination. In fact, both Obama, at 28 percent, and Edwards, at 25 percent, more than doubled Clinton's share among a crowd with significant fundraising and advertising power.

Town Meeting, YouTube Style: Video-sharing site YouTube is once again playing a role in the '08 campaign, though this time it's one all the candidates seem to welcome and endorse. On Tuesday, the site launched its You Choose '08 Spotlight, in which, each week, one candidate posts a question for YouTube users, who will be able to post their own video responses. Then, the candidate will be able to post videos reflecting on what people have said.

Romney kicked off the series, asking "What do you believe is America's single greatest challenge and what would you do to address it?"

"Rarely do presidential candidates have the chance to communicate with such a large number of voters and directly solicit their ideas and their input," Romney said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to interacting with this engaged community of people about the new generation of challenges confronting our nation."

So far, Romney's video has inspired eight responses, which isn't too shabby by YouTube standards. As the series continues, it might be worth noting how many responses each candidate gets and which ones are acknowledged by the candidates when they get around to posting their second videos. While participating in a program like this opens politicians up to tough, critical statement, it also gives them the ability to give rehearsed responses to the comments they prefer — a frequent criticism of the live "town hall meetings" that campaigns already arrange frequently.

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By David Miller