Mike Boudo
It's not a race for king, but it's turning into a royal rumble. As you get ready to “voice your choice,” the Republican presidential race is getting nasty. 7's Political Editor Andy Hiller explains the harsh words in tonight's Hiller Instinct.
With Thanksgiving already fading into memories, the long, slow race for the white house that's already been a marathon is shifting into sprint speed with the first votes now just weeks away.
And, no surprise, the heavyweight candidates are starting to throw their best punches, hoping for a knock-out.
In the Republican ring, it's Rudy Giuliani versus Mitt Romney.
Mayor Giuliani says "The big mistake that he made was crime went up, violent crime and murder went up while he was governor."
Gov. Romney counters, "He is pro-choice, like Hillary Clinton; he is in favor of civil unions, like Hillary Clinton; he is in favor of sanctuary cities, like Hillary Clinton."
But look and listen to how different they were back in 2002, when Romney was running for governor.
Giuliani said back then, "If he can do for Massachusetts, what he did for the Winter Olympics and for America, we're going to all be in very, very good shape."
One word explains why they're not so friendly now: polls.
In Iowa, Romney is first with 28-percent and Giuliani is third at 14-percent, but Romney's lead is soft.
In New Hampshire, Romney is again first at 33-percent and Giuliani is second at 18-percent, but Giuliani thinks he can catch him.
With Giuliani on top nationally and Romney in third, it's easy to understand the attacks and counter attacks; what they're really about is who's going to be the Republican nominee.
Romney says, "He has a real problem with facts. He's now done this time and again, making up facts that just happen to be wrong."
Giuliani says, "I think that Governor Romney is trying to distract attention from what is clearly a mistake that he made."
Ever wonder whether there are any casualties when candidates have a war of words? Does anyone win votes, or lose them?
This time, we're going to find out because we're calling New Hampshire voters right now, and on Wednesday we'll have the results of our next poll with Suffolk University.
My guess is Giuliani will still be trailing Romney, but we'll see.
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