Is Thompson Tearing Down Giuliani's Firewall?

The two latest surveys in Florida, conducted at virtually the same time for the Southern Political Report, one by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research and the other by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion, differ sharply from the picture that was painted by Quinnipiac's latest Florida survey. Conducted almost two weeks ago, the Quinnipiac poll showed Rudy Giuliani leading Fred Thompson by 28 percent to 17 percent in Florida's critical GOP presidential primary.

Also that week, a previous InsiderAdvantage poll showed Thompson having surged past Giuliani, if only by a modest margin just outside the poll's margin of error. That survey was taken right after Thompson officially announced.

With a week's perspective, it appears that InsiderAdvantage, not Quinnipiac, were on the right track.

A Mason-Dixon poll done last week showed Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson tied at 24% and 23%, respectively. Mitt Romney is ten points behind at 13%.

The most recent Insider Advantage poll also shows Thompson and Giuliani in a dead heat.

It's not clear to what degree, but it does seem that Giuliani's firewall is in serious danger and may already be gone.