But, I intend to vote for Rudy - he's entitled to a second term. The challenge illustrates how, in the nation's biggest city and elsewhere, voters are increasingly looking at results, not party affiliation. For the past four years, Mr. Giuliani has reduced the crime rate in the city and benefited from the boom on Wall Street. Now, even in a city that is heavily democratic, he is the front-runner. This is true nationally, too.
Polls show incumbents are faring better.
N.Y. Partially, this is because of the strong economy. However, he says it's also because incumbents have learned how to appeal to the 60 percent of the public who are doing well. Messinger's campaign has yet to catch on. In a recent poll of Democrats, she trailed Giuliani by seven percentage points. Members of her own party give the mayor a 61 percent approval rating.