Hillary's double-digit lead in New Hampshire has eroded substantially since February, while John Edwards has moved closer, according to the CNN/WMUR poll released tonight.
Hillary's 35% support in February fell to 27% in the most recent survey, while Edwards moved up 5 points, to 21% support, from his 16-point showing a couple of months ago. Obama remained relatively immobile -- picking up 20% support in tonight's results, compare to 21% from February. The only other Demo in double digits was Al Gore, who polled at 11%, up from 8 in February. Gore trailed "Don't Know" by a point. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson moved from one point to 4%.
The poll of 339 likely Democratic primary voters, conducted by the University of New Hampshire between March 27 and April 2, asked voters to also name the Democratic candidate that they liked the least -- at 17%, Hillary placed second (well behind Al Sharpton at 32%). Edwards was at the bottom of that list, at 2%, with Obama at 4%.
The poll shows that Edwards' work in the state is paying dividends -- in addition to his rise in the poll, his favorables are up over the February poll. Hillary is the victim of her own strength -- with nearly universal name recognition, she had little room to move up and little opportunity to have that "conversation" she used to talk about. If people believe that they know all they need to know about you, it gets harder to get them to listen to you. Her waffling and vaguesness on Iraq didn't help her there either. Nearly 4 in 10 respondents said that the war was the number one issue on their minds this primary season. Her favorables in the state declined 10-points from February (74% to 64%) and her unfavorables rose from 15% to 24%.
Earlier today, Edwards learned that his Iowa organization is also apparently doing its job. A statewide poll conducted by the University of Iowa put Edwards up 34% to Hillary's 28% among among Iowa's likely Democratic caucus goers. Yet, among registered Dems as a whole, Hillary had a slight led 29 to 26%. Of course, the support is not worth much if they don't get out to the caucusses and Edwards' crew has apparently better targeted teh likely voters.
In the media:
WMUR: Poll Shows Democratic Race Tightening Up
Boston Globe: Edwards surging as race among Democrats tightens in NH
NY Sun: Edwards in (Kind of) Second Place in New Hampshire
CNN: Clinton slips, Edwards climbs in New Hampshire poll
NewsMax: Hillary Leads in New Hampshire: Poll
Iowa City Press-Citizen: Poll shows Edwards, Clinton, Giuliani, McCain leading in Iowa
AHN: Edwards Leads In Iowa Caucus Poll; Democrats Win Overall
RCP: New CA, IA and NH 2008 Polls
Des Moines Register: Edwards crowd zeroes in on issues
NY Post: Hill's Slide is Edwards' Gain in Critical NH
Union Leader: Clinton slips, still leads in latest poll
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