NO CLEAR FAVORITE IN EITHER PARTY ON NATIONAL PRIMARY BALLOT, …

   NO CLEAR FAVORITE IN EITHER PARTY ON NATIONAL PRIMARY BALLOT,
             DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN FRONTRUNNERS
                      FACE CLOSE COMPETITION

   Republican Primary Voters Say Experience is Most Important Trait for Presidential Candidate
    While Democratic Primary Voters Hungry for Candidate to Lead Country in a New Direction


NEW YORK, December 18, 2007 ­ As the election cycle nears its official start date with the upcoming
January 3rd Iowa caucus, the national race is close on the Democratic side, and remains relatively
unsettled among the Republican candidates.

The Diageo/Hotline Poll of 812 registered voters conducted by FD from December 10-14, 2007 shows
that Hillary Clinton's lead over Barack Obama is effectively within the margin of error (35% to 30%)
among registered voters that typically vote in the Democratic primary. John Edwards trails at 14%, and
remains the only other Democratic candidate in double digits.

  Table 1: Primary Vote among                                          Table 2: Primary Vote among
    Democratic Primary Voters                                           Republican Primary Voters
              (n=336)                                                               (n=291)

                              Total                                                                Total
Hillary Clinton               35%                                   Rudy Giuliani                  21%
Barack Obama                  30%                                   Mike Huckabee                  17%
John Edwards                  14%                                   Mitt Romney                    13%
Bill Richardson                2%                                   Fred Thompson                  11%
Joe Biden                      2%                                   John McCain                    10%
Dennis Kucinich                1%                                   Ron Paul                        7%
Christopher Dodd               1%                                   Duncan Hunter                   1%
Mike Gravel                    1%                                   Tom Tancredo                     *


On the Republican ballot, the race is close between Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee, who are in a
statistical tie for first place (21% to 17%). Despite Huckabee's strong performance on the national ballot
among Republican primary voters, he has the lowest familiarity rating of the top five Republican
candidates (Huckabee, 61%; compared to Giuliani, 91%).

"We've known things were tight in the early primary states for some time, but now we're seeing it
nationally as well," says Hotline Editor-in-Chief, Amy Walter. "For the Democrats, Obama has closed in on
Clinton, with Edwards far behind. On the Republican side, Huckabee is demonstrating his potential to be
more than just a `one-trick' Iowa pony by seriously competing with Giuliani for the number one spot."

For the GOP, 61% of Republican primary voters say it is possible they would change their mind before
the primary, compared to 50% of Democratic primary voters who say the same. Of Republican primary
voters who say they would support Giuliani, 29% say they "would definitely support" him (compared to
38% for Huckabee). In contrast, Clinton enjoys more solid support: 62% of her supporters say they "would
definitely support" her, compared to only 46% of Obama supporters who say the same.
Voters were also asked which presidential traits are most important for a candidate to have. Democratic
primary voters are more inclined to say that being able to "lead the country in a new direction" is the most
important trait (Democratic primary voters, 50%; Republican primary voters, 28%). This corresponds with
how Democratic voters view the direction of the country today, with 80% of Democratic primary voters
saying that the country is "on the wrong track." For Republican primary voters, the most important trait for
a presidential candidate is having "the necessary experience to be President" (36%).

                              Table 3: Most Important Presidential Traits


                                                   Democratic        Republican
                                                    Primary           Primary
                                                     Voters            Voters
                                                    (n=336)           (n=291)
                         Will lead country in
                         new direction                 50%               28%
                         Has necessary
                         experience                    20%               36%
                         Is inspirational
                         leader                        13%               23%
                         Has best chance of
                         winning general
                         election                       7%                3%


Giuliani leads Huckabee by 21 points on the most important trait for Republican primary voters
("necessary experience": Giuliani, 30%; Huckabee, 9%). Giuliani and Huckabee are statistically tied on
the question of who would "lead the country in a new direction" (Giuliani, 16%; Huckabee, 20%). In
addition, Republican primary voters are more likely to say Giuliani "is an inspirational leader" compared to
Huckabee (Giuliani, 29%; Huckabee, 17%).

On the Democratic side, voters say that Clinton and Obama are equally as likely to "lead the country in a
new direction" (tied at 37%). While Democratic primary voters say these traits are less important to them,
Clinton leads Obama on both "most likely to win the general election" (Clinton, 53%; Obama, 22%) and
"has the necessary experience" (Clinton, 52%; Obama, 11%).

To obtain complete poll results please see www.diageohotlinepoll.com.

To schedule an interview with Ed Reilly, contact Smriti Sateesh at (212) 850-5600 or
Smriti.Sateesh@fd.com.

Methodology: The Diageo/Hotline Poll was conducted by telephone from December 10 through
December 14, 2007, among a random, representative sample of 812 registered voters, age 18 and older
(margin of error +/- 3.4%). The sample included a sub-sample of both 336 Democratic primary voters
(margin of error +/- 5.3%) and 291 Republican primary voters (margin of error +/- 5.7%).

About Diageo: Diageo (Dee-AH-Gee-O) is the world' leading premium drinks business with an
                                                     s
outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wines, and beer categories. These
brands include Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, J&B, Baileys, Cuervo, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan,
Crown Royal, Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards wines. Diageo is a global company, trading in
more than 200 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange
(DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). Celebrating life, every day, everywhere, responsibly. For
more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com
About The Hotline & National Journal Group: The Hotline is National Journal' daily briefing on
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