Via Reuters: Clinton holds lead as Romney slips in Iowa.

Clinton, a New York senator, maintained a stable four-point edge over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, 30 percent to 26 percent, in the Democratic race. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was in third at 25 percent, down one point overnight.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, widened his lead over Romney among Republicans to 29 percent to 25 percent. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who has been on the attack against Huckabee, slipped two points overnight.

Arizona Sen. John McCain remained a distant third in Iowa’s Republican race at 12 percent, with former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson gaining two points to climb to fourth at 10 percent.

In regards to the second choice issue on the Dem side¹ :

But Edwards remains the top second choice of Democrats, a potentially significant factor given the requirement a candidate have 15 percent support in each precinct to be viable or their supporters can switch to another candidate.

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1. Remember: the Reps have no second choice mechanism–it’s just a straight vote [↩]

4 Responses to “More Polls”

1. MSS Says:
   January 1st, 2008 at 1:55 pm

   If the GOP uses a “straight vote” does that imply that the Democrats procedure is crooked?

   It would be more accurate to say that the Republicans consider only first preferences, whereas Democrats allow those who prefer trailing candidates to transfer their vote. Much more befitting the party’s name (as long as we ignore the inherently crooked idea that a few hundred thousand Iowans should have this much agenda-setting power over the rest of us).

2. Frederick Paxson Says:
   January 1st, 2008 at 2:26 pm

   FRED THOMPSON is the best person to lead this country. He is a true conservative and has been his entire life. All one has to do is check his record to see this.

   During my time in the Army as an Intelligence Analyst, I served under both Presidents Carter and Reagan (as my commanders in chief). Without argument, President Reagan was the best commander-in-chief a military person could ever have served under. Fred Thompson possesses the same qualities and vision as President Reagan in that he is strong on national defense and sees a dire need to secure our borders and control immigration.

   I can think of no better person to lead this country and fix the problems we have. He is the only candidate from either party who has specific and detailed plans on border security and immigration reform; revitalization of America’s armed forces; saving and protecting Social Security; and tax relief and economic growth. These are detailed on his Web site at http://www.fred08.com . I challenge you to find any other candidate who has laid out specific plans to fix anything.

   Fred Thompson has published his first principles, some of which are mentioned above. In addition to those, he strongly believes in individual liberty, personal responsibility, limited government, federalism, traditional American values, the rule of law and is a strong proponent of the Second Amendment — all concepts established during the birth of our country and documented in our Constitution.

   Again, try to find any candidate who has laid out their plans to “fix” this country. You will find they all speak in vague and abstract terms on their plans.

   For those who have heard Fred Thompson speak, you will usually hear him say that the Fred Thompson you see today is the same Fred Thompson you saw yesterday and is the same Fred Thompson you will see tomorrow. He stands by his principles and values and doesn’t shift his positions based on polls or public opinion; in other words, he doesn’t say what the voters want to hear just to get elected, but remains steadfast on his views and convictions.

   During his time in the Senate he focused on three areas: to lower taxes, strengthen national security and expose waste in the federal government. Fred Thompson has foreign policy experience, having served as member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Senate Intelligence committees.

   As chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, he opened the investigation in 1997 on the Chinese government’s attempt to influence American policies and elections, and this investigation identified connections with the Clinton administration (documented in the committee’s report).

   As a member of the Finance Committee, he worked tirelessly to enact three major tax-cut bills. Fred Thompson remains steadfast and even though a person may not agree with all his views and he understands some may disagree with him, you can count on him to be consistent and unwavering.

   Don’t be fooled by his laid back approach and what critics call his “laziness.” As a former assistant U.S. attorney, he earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor and he possesses the toughness this country needs in order to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s issues.

   I ask that you take a hard look at what this country needs, then take a hard look at all the other candidates’ views, policies, their records and their track record on consistency. Fred Thompson possesses integrity, loyalty, commitment, energy and decisiveness, all traits of an effective leader, and will emerge as the best person to take this country boldly forward.

   Please help Fred win in Iowa:
   https://www.fred08.com/contribute.aspx?RefererID=c637caaa-315c-4b4c-9967-08d864cd0791

3. ratoe Says:
   January 1st, 2008 at 9:11 pm

   Hey Steven you should charge for political ads like “Frederick Paxson’s” testimonial for Thompson–it seems as if he’s spreading the same “comment” everywhere:

   http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/30/thompson-insists-he-has-the-desire-to-win-the-white-house/

   http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Tom+Puzzo%3A+Fred+Thompson+is+the+best+conservative+and+best+candidate&articleId=01939cdf-bd6f-4829-98a9-107baa6e6d63

4. Dr. Steven Taylor Says:
   January 1st, 2008 at 9:16 pm

   It seems to be all the rage this campaign season–using blog comments to shill for candidates. Normally, however, it is the Paulites.