By
Rick Edwards · 03:44 PM · July 29, 2007 ·
Matthew Continetti:
The conventional wisdom holds that as grassroots conservatives wake up to Giuliani's differences with them on issues like abortion, they will ditch him in favor of someone else. That may be happening to some extent, but it hasn't knocked Giuliani out of first place or undermined the rationale for his candidacy. Despite his variance on some issues with some conservatives, a decline in national public opinion polls since early March, and a recent spate of harsh media coverage, Giuliani remains the frontrunner for the 2008 Republican nomination. He continues to lead in national polls and in many state polls. He's winning the money race. And he's preparing for the inevitable counterattack.