Two new polls in New Hampshire published tonight and conducted over the last two days both show clear double-digit leads for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.
The latest University of New Hampshire poll for WMUR and CNN - regarded as one of the most reliable polls in the state - shows a dramatic shift towards Obama and away from both Clinton and Edwards. It found Obama getting support of 39% of voters, compared with 29% for Clinton and 16% for Edwards.Given the 5% margin of error (and the sample size was only 341 - very small), it is still a tight race despite the 10% difference.
The poll's result matches the other post-Iowa poll released on Sunday: the latest Rasmussen survey of New Hampshire voters found that Obama led Clinton 39% to 27%, with Edwards at 18% and Bill Richardson at 8%.
To show how far things have changed: in September last year Clinton led Obama by 43% to 20%. Less than a month ago, Clinton led Obama 38% to 26%.
On the Republican side the University of New Hampshire poll shows the field is more evenly spread. John McCain leads at 32%, Mitt Romney at 26%, Mike Huckabee at 14%, Rudy Giuliani at 11%, Ron Paul at 10%. (Fred Thompson is under 5%)
