Giuliani For Senate

A crazy day of news about Rudy Giuliani: after The New York Times' report that he won't run for governor in 2010, the New York Daily News now reports that Giuliani will run for U.S. Senate in 2010, taking on incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) for Hillary Clinton's old seat.

And--perhaps more of a bombshell--a source said Giuliani could use a Senate campaign (and victory) as a stepping stone to run for president, again, in 2012.

Giuliani will make a formidable Senate candidate, should he run--in fact, if he enters the race, he will likely become the frontrunner.

He polls well ahead of Gillibrand, who is considered vulnerable: he bested her 53-36 in a Siena poll released in October, while a September Marist poll gave Giuliani a 51-40 lead.

Former New York Gov. George Pataki is the other big name on the Republican side. Giuliani likely has the advantage, as he consistently outperforms Pataki in head-to-head polling against Gillibrand. Pataki gets the edge against Gillibrand 46-41, according to to Siena; see more Pataki/Gillibrand matchup polling here. To my knowledge (and please correct me in the comments section if I'm wrong), no major polls have been conducted among New York Republicans on a potential Giuliani/Pataki primary contest.