McCain Moves Into Lead; Obama Gains on Clinton
Giuliani Falls to 4th in National Poll
By Dan Balz and Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, January 14, 2008; A01
The first contests of the 2008 presidential campaign have led to a dramatic shake-up in public opinion nationally, with Sen. John McCain now leading the Republican field and
Sen. Barack Obama all but erasing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-overwhelming advantage among Democrats, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.As the campaigns head into the next round of voting this week, the competitive contests in both parties have captured the public's attention. Four in five are closely tuned in, and a third are "very closely" following the races, a sharp increase from a month ago, and well higher than the proportions saying so at this stage in 2000 or 2004.
Clinton had dominated in national polls from the outset, holding a 30-point advantage as recently as a month ago, but the competitiveness of the first two contests appears to have reverberated among Democrats across the country.
In the new poll, 42 percent of likely Democratic voters support Clinton (N.Y.), and 37 percent back Obama (Ill.). Clinton's support is down 11 percentage points from a month ago, with Obama's up 14. Former senator John Edwards (N.C.) held third position with 11 percent, followed by Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) at 2 percent.
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The poll was conducted Jan. 9-12 among a random national sample of 1,130 adults. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus three percentage points.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/13/AR2008011302514.html?hpid=topnews