4 in 10 Republicans find McCain "unacceptable"

From E&P

A new Gallup poll asking Americans theirs views of 25 leading candidates for president in 2008 found that one of the Republican frontrunners, Sen. John McCain, is judged "unacceptable" by 41% of those in his own party.

A bare majority, 55%, find him "acceptable." In contrast, 73% of Republicans give their okay to rival Rudy Giuliani. Condoleezza Rice got the thumb's up from 68%.

Most of the opposition to McCain comes from conservatives, possibly explaining his moves in that direction lately.

Interestingly, the Republicans with the highest "unacceptable" ratings are Vice President Cheney (61%) and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (52%).

On the Democratic side, the surpise leader in the acceptable column is former Sen. John Edwards, with 71%, followed closely by Sen. Hillary Clinton and Al Gore. Their "not acceptable" tags are fairly low and not all that different, at 25%, 29% and 31% respectively.

Sen. John Kerry had the fourth best rating. Howard Dean comes in with 54% unacceptable, however.