Giuliani Surges Ahead of McCain

Rudy has the mojo.

McCain appears to have lost it.

A Time Magazine poll shows that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has jumped ahead of Sen. John McCain by 14 percentage points (38 percent to 24 percent) among registered Republicans and those leaning toward the GOP.

In January, McCain was ahead of Giuliani by 4 percentage points, making for an 18-point swing in favor of Rudy.

The news came the day after McCain announced his candidacy on the David Letterman show. In that announcement, McCain said that the lives of U.S. troops had been "wasted" in Iraq. Later, he amended that to say that he meant to say "sacrificed" not "wasted."

But it's fair to say that this has not been a good period of time for the Arizona senator. He supported President Bush's unpopular proposal for a "surge" of troops in Iraq to pacify the country. And he is a strong supporter of the war, period.