US Presidential Contenders Enlist Celebrity Support to Push Ahead (2/2)

"Everybody wants to have his or her supporters speak out and try to persuade voters to support whoever their candidate is, but at the end of the day, it is a choice among those of us who are running."

The battle for the Republican Party's presidential nomination appears even more unpredictable at this stage.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee continues to surge in Iowa and in another early contest state, South Carolina.

Huckabee's rise may be coming at the expense of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani continues to lead among Republicans in most national polls, but trails behind in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Giuliani continues to emphasize a tough approach to terrorism and vows to take a hard line against the prospect of Iran developing a nuclear weapons capability if elected. He was interviewed on NBC's Meet The Press program.

The January 3 vote in Iowa begins a compressed" class="hjdict" word="compressed" target=_blank>compressed month of caucuses and primaries that will climax" class="hjdict" word="climax" target=_blank>climax on February 5th, when more than 20 states will vote for their presidential preferences in both parties.

The nominees for both major parties will be confirmed at party conventions later in the year.

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"每个人都希望他或她的支持者大声呼吁并努力说服投票者支持他们的候选人，但是在最后，这是在我们--这些竞选者中做出的一个选择。"

在这个阶段，共和党总统提名的斗争似乎更无法预测。

前阿肯色州州长迈克•哈克比仍然在爱荷华州和另一竞选州--南加州掀起波澜。

哈克比的支持率的升高可能是以牺牲前任纽约市市长鲁迪•朱利安尼的支持率为代价。朱利安尼在全国多数民意调查中，在共和党仍处于领先地位，但是在较早开选的爱荷华州、新罕布什尔州以及南加州稍显落后。

朱利安尼仍然强调需要对恐怖主义者采取强硬手段并发誓如果当选，其将对伊拉发展核武器的能力进行严格控制。他在NBC的《会见新闻界》中被采访。

1月3日在爱荷华的选举拉开了整个月紧张的预选会和选举的序幕，这些选举在2月5日达高峰，此时有20州开始在两党中选举他们喜欢的总统候选人。

两大党的提名人将在明年晚些时候的党会中被确定。