DMR Poll: Obama Widens Lead, Huck On Top
The last Des Moines Register poll before Iowans caucus Thursday shows Barack Obama pulling ahead in the Democratic contest and Mike Huckabee maintaining a solid lead over Mitt Romney.
Obama has the backing of 32 percent of those surveyed compared with 25 percent for Hillary Clinton and 24 percent for John Edwards. Nonetheless, the DMR advises that the race is still fluid, with a third of likely caucusgoers indicating they could be persuaded to choose someone else.
"The findings mark the largest lead of any of the Democratic candidates in the Register's poll all year, underscoring what has been a hard-fought battle among the three well-organized Iowa frontrunners," the DMR's Thomas Beaumont writes this evening on the paper's Web site.
Voters surveyed said their votes will turn on who is the best change agent over who has the most experience.
"Thirty percent of the poll's respondents said a candidate's ability to bring about change is the most important, followed by 27 percent who said their priority is choosing a candidate who will be the most successful in unifying the country," Beaumont reports.
"Asked which candidate would do the best on these themes, caucusgoers most commonly name Obama. The first-term U.S. senator has argued in the closing weeks of the campaign that his newness to Washington, D.C., would help him bridge a politically divided nation and improve its standing overseas.
"Having the experience and competence to lead, which has been the crux of Clinton's closing argument, was seen as the most important to 18 percent of caucusgoers, with Clinton as the candidate most commonly rated best on this trait."
Meanwhile, in the GOP contest, Huckabee is at 32 percent, Romney is at 26 percent and John McCain garnered support from 13 percent of those polled. Ron Paul and Fred Thompson are each at 9 percent, while Rudy Giuliani is at 5 percent.
The DMR's Jonathan Roos writes that Huckabee has been buoyed by the support of Christian conservatives, while McCain's political resurrection -- thought until recently to be perhaps limited to the Granite State -- is affirmed in the survey as a broader phenomenon.
"The new poll, taken over four days ending on Sunday, shows a resurgent Arizona Sen. John McCain grabbing third place in the Republican race for the first-in-the-nation caucuses," Roos writes. "McCain tallies support from 13 percent in the poll -- a 6-point improvement since late November."
The telephone survey was taken Dec. 27-30. The margin of error is 3.5 percent in each contest.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
