Monday, December 31, 2007

Iowa Looks Like A Toss-Up For Democrats


We're just a few days away from the Iowa caucuses, and it still looks like there's no clear favorite there for the Democrats. Both Clinton and Obama have had the lead in polls there, but both have seen their support decline. While Clinton and Obama have declining numbers, three other candidates are seeing their numbers rise in these last few days before the caucuses -- Edwards, Richardson and Biden.

McClatchy News and MSNBC have released a new poll done by Mason-Dixon Polling. It shows Edwards with 24%, Clinton with 23% and Obama with 22%. That's a dead heat, within the margin of error. Richardson is up to 12% and Biden is now at 8%.

The mainstream media has not given Richardson and Biden a chance up until now. They will come out of Iowa looking good if they just grab some delegates -- they don't have to win. If they continue to rise in the next few days and Clinton and Obama continue to fall, then Iowa could propell these two up with the top-tier candidates and make it a four or five-way race going into New Hampshire. That would be good for us here in Texas. The more candidates that are still in it after Iowa and New Hampshire, the more likely it will get to March with the candidate not yet chosen.

This is not outside the realm of possibility. It is not unusual for a candidate to surge in Iowa in the last week. The poll showed 8% have not made a choice, and another 20% say they might change their mind by caucus day. That's 28% of the vote that's still in play.

Right now, Edwards looks to have the best chance to finish first in Iowa. But with 28% of the people still unsure of their candidate, anything could happen. This is starting to get very interesting.

I would love to see four or five candidates come out of Iowa with delegates.

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