McCain camp touts role as Clinton’s toughest test

The campaign of Sen. John McCain touted a new poll Thursday that shows the Arizona Republican closest to Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in head-to-head match-ups.

{mosads}According to the Fox News poll, McCain trails Clinton by three points, faring slightly better than former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), who is four points behind Clinton. The poll also shows the Democratic senator with a 12-point lead over former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).

In an internal memo to supporters, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis compared the results to a Rasmussen poll that had shown a similar trend.

“What do these polls mean? They mean that John McCain’s experienced leadership, courageous service and the bold solutions he is proposing on the campaign trail are resonating with the American people,” Davis said. “They also mean that our party can nominate a candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton without compromising the bedrock principles and values that are our party's foundation.”

He pointed out that, according to the Fox poll, Giuliani would lose to Clinton by a much larger margin if Christian conservatives follow through on their threat to put up a third-party candidate if the former mayor were to become the GOP nominee.

“Republican primary voters are figuring out that supporting a candidate who is not prepared to be commander in chief from day one, or one who is out of step with our party’s core values, is a recipe for another Clinton administration,” Davis said.