VOTER PESSIMISM REGARDING ECONOMY PREVAILS, …

               VOTER PESSIMISM REGARDING ECONOMY PREVAILS,
             CROSSES PARTY LINES AS TOP ISSUE FACING THE NATION
              Clinton and Obama in Statistical Dead Heat in National Primary Contest,
                             McCain Solidifies Lead over Huckabee

           Democrats More Enthusiastic about their Candidates than GOP Counterparts


NEW YORK, February 21, 2008 ­ With well over half of the country's states having conducted their
primaries and caucuses, the Democratic race is still deadlocked nationally while McCain has moved into a
dominant position in the GOP race in this month's Diageo/Hotline poll. The economy has skyrocketed to
the top of voters' minds: 39% say this is the most important issue facing the country (a 15 point jump from
the January Diageo/Hotline Poll). The economy nearly doubled as the top issue facing the nation across
party lines with 36% of self-identified Republicans (19% in January) and 40% of self-identified Democrats
(26% in January) saying the economy is the top issue facing the nation.

Within this context of concern over the economy, 69% of voters say the country is "off on the wrong track"
(49% of Republicans; 83% of Democrats). While overall congressional job approval is at 28%, voters are
more inclined to approve of the job Democrats are doing in Congress (37%), compared to their
Republican counterparts (29%). Moreover, among self-identified Republican voters, 46% approve of the
job their party is doing in Congress, compared to 53% of self-identified Democratic voters who say they
approve of their party's performance in Congress.

The Diageo/Hotline Poll of 803 registered voters conducted by FD from February 14-17, 2008 shows that
the dropping out of several major candidates appears to have had a greater impact on the Republican
race than it has had on the Democratic race. Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are still in a
statistical dead heat (45% to 43%, respectively) as they were in January (Clinton, 38%; Obama, 35%). On
the Republican side, however, McCain has nearly doubled his lead over Huckabee, moving from a 32% -
17% lead in last month's poll to a 53% - 25% lead this month.

"With the economy fast becoming the dominant issue of the campaign, John McCain's heavy emphasis
on his national security credentials could very well become less relevant to voters," says Amy Walter,
Editor-in-Chief of The Hotline. "However, what is clear is that the Republican Party appears to be lining up
behind him, and the Democrats will most likely do the same for their nominee when the dust finally
settles."

Overall, Democratic primary voters are more likely to be satisfied with either of their top candidates than
their GOP counterparts. Almost half (45%) of Democratic primary voters say they would be "very
satisfied" if either Obama or Clinton won the Democratic candidacy. In contrast, for GOP primary voters,
only 37% say they would be "very satisfied" if John McCain won the nomination, compared to 26% of
GOP primary voters who say the same for Huckabee. In addition, voters' level of enthusiasm for their
respective candidates is higher among Democratic primary voters than GOP primary voters (see Table 1).
                                       Table 1: Enthusiasm of Vote
                                              (n=361; n=266)

                                                    Barack         Hillary        John           Mike
                                                    Obama          Clinton       McCain        Huckabee
   Vote for him/her enthusiastically in
                                                     55%             59%           50%           43%
   November
   Vote for him/her, but mainly as a vote
                                                     22%             22%           30%           32%
   against the opposing party's candidate
   Vote for the opposing party's candidate            9%             10%           7%             8%
   Stay home on Election Day and not vote             6%             5%            3%             5%


 Underscoring the more apparent enthusiasm among Democratic voters for their candidates, a little less
 than half (49%) of self-identified Republican voters say that they believe the Republican candidate will win
 the general election, while an overwhelming majority of self-identified Democratic voters say the same for
 the Democratic candidate (82%). However, while 56% of registered voters say that a Democrat will win
 the White House in 2008, this is a 6-point drop since our poll in January.

 In hypothetical match-ups between the Republican and Democratic candidates, Obama beats both
 McCain and Huckabee by a sizeable margin (see Table 2). Obama's lead over McCain has risen 7 points
 since January, while his lead over Huckabee has actually decreased since last month from a 23-point
 margin in January to an 11-point margin in February. While Clinton beats Huckabee in a head-to-head
 match-up, she loses to McCain by 8 points. McCain's margin over Clinton has jumped 5 points since last
 month.

                       Table 2: Vote Results among Top Presidential Candidates
                                             (n=398; n=405)

                                              John McCain         Mike Huckabee
                         Hillary Clinton       40% - 48%            49% - 39%
                         Barack Obama          48% - 40%            49% - 38%


 In a three-way contest with New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg as a hypothetical Independent
 candidate, head-to-head match-ups follow suit with the two-way races. Obama and Clinton win each
 match-up, with the exception of a McCain-Clinton-Bloomberg race, which results in a statistical tie
 between McCain and Clinton (see Table 3).

                        Table 3: Vote Results in Potential Three-Way Match-Ups
                                             (n=398; n=405)

                                          Mike           Barack        Hillary         John          Mike
                                       Bloomberg         Obama         Clinton        McCain       Huckabee
Bloomberg - Clinton - Huckabee             7%               -           45%              -           35%
Bloomberg - Obama - McCain                 6%             44%             -            39%             -
Bloomberg - Obama - Huckabee               8%             47%             -              -           33%
Bloomberg - Clinton - McCain               6%               -           42%            40%             -
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 February 14 through February
17, 2008, among a random, representative sample of 803 registered voters, age 18 and older (margin of
error +/- 3.5%). The sample included a sub-sample of both 361 Democratic primary voters (margin of
error +/- 5.1%) and 266 Republican primary voters (margin of error +/- 6.0%).

About Diageo: Diageo (Dee-AH-Gee-O) is the world's leading premium drinks business with an
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's daily briefing on
politics. National Journal Group Inc. is a leading publisher of magazines, newsletters, books and
directories for people who have a professional interest in politics, policy and government. Based in
Washington, D.C., National Journal Group Inc. is committed to providing publications and services that
are non-partisan, reliable and of the highest quality. www.nationaljournal.com.

About FD: One of the most highly regarded consultancies in the communications industry, FD employs
more than 660 staff and advises more than 900 clients worldwide through its hub offices in London and
New York, as well as its network of wholly-owned offices in Bahrain, Beijing, Bogota, Boston, Cape Town,
Chicago, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Manchester, Moscow,
Panama City, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Sydney and Washington, DC. With a 20 year history of
advising clients in both the private and public sectors, FD's services include financial public relations,
capital markets communications, public affairs, crisis and issues management and corporate, business-
to-business and business-to-consumer communications. FD is also a market leader in M&A advisory
work. FD is structured around specialist sector teams operating on an international basis, covering
consumer industries, financial services, basic industries, business services, life sciences & healthcare,
media, real estate, technology and telecommunications. FD is a division of FTI Consulting Inc. (NYSE:
FCN), the global business advisory firm. For more information, please visit www.fd.com.

About FTI Consulting: FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping
organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and
economic environment. With more than 2,400 professionals located in most major business centers in the
world, we work closely with clients every day to anticipate, illuminate, and overcome complex business
challenges in areas such as investigations, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues,
reputation management and restructuring. www.fticonsulting.com.