Obama/Edwards Top Iowa Poll, Hillary Drops to Fourth

In a Research 2000/KCCI-TV poll just out, Illinois Senator Barack Obama moved into yesterday into a tie with former Senator John Edwards among Iowa Democrats. Both men pulled in 22% of support among the 600 Iowa Democrats polled between December 18 and 20. They were followed by Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack with 12%, and New York Senator Hillary Clinton at 10%. An October poll found Edwards at the top, with 36%, followed by Hillary at 16%, Obama at 13%, and Vilsack with 9% support. The drop in interest in Edwards is noteworthy only because Obama hasn't even visited Iowa yet.

Edwards is reportedly planning to announce from New Orleans next week.

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Edwards Tops in Iowa

As noisy as the 2008 "non-campaigns" of Hillary and Obama have been, John Edwards has more quietly been building support. According to a recently released poll, Edwards, the runner-up in the 2004 Iowa caucus, currently has more support among Iowa caucus Democrats than Hillary, Obama, AND Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, combined.

Edwards was the favorite among 36% of those polled, Hillary was second at 16%, followed by Obama at 13%, and Vilsack coming in fourth with only 9% of his home-state Democrats backing his run at the White House.

While it is stretching it to say anything is significant about a poll a year before the caucus, it is at least noteworthy that the poll was conducted October 12-19 -- before Obama said that he was considering a run. The poll was commissioned by an environmental advocacy group, which said it did not release the results in October because the primary purpose of the poll was for internal strategy planning.

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