Read the full Reuters/C–SPAN/Zogby daily tracking poll

The race for the Democratic presidential nomination tightened slightly over the last 24 hours, but Senator Hillary Clinton retained her edge over rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards, a new Reuters/C–SPAN/Zogby daily tracking poll in Iowa shows. With a 3.3 percent margin of error, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 31 percent to 27 percent with John Edwards at 24 percent. On the Repulican side, with the same margin of error, Huckabee leads Romney 29 percent to 28 percent, with John McCain the only other candidate in double digits at 11 percent.

Read the Rasmessen Reports poll

John McCain finds himself on top of the Republican field `for the first time all year in the daily national tracking poll by Rasmussen, although given the surveys four point margin of error, his lead i statistically insignificant. McCain has the support of 17 percent of Republicans compared to 16 percent for Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee and 15 percent for Rudy Giuliani. Fred Thompson is at 12 percent and Ron Paul at 7 percent. The Democratic side is less muddled, with Hillary Clinton at 42 percent, Barack Obama at 23 percent and John Edwards at 16 percent.

In New Hampshire, a poll released Sunday by the American Research Group shows Clinton ahead of Obama 34 percent to 31 percent with Edwards at 21 percent. Margin of error is 4 points. Among Republicans, McCain and Romney tied at 30 percent with Huckabee far behind at 11 percent and all others within single digits.

Read the full poll stories from Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby and McClatchy-MSNBC

A pair of new Iowa polls show the frontrunners in dead heats in both races, although one of the surveys indicates that John Edwards is gaining momentum on the Democratic side and Mike Huckabee is losing some in the Republican contest.

A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll, conducted Dec. 26-29, has Hillary Clinton at 31 percent, Barack Obama at 27 percent and John Edwards at 24 percent, with all the rest at 5 percent or less. The margin of error is 3 percent. Under Democratic rules, supporters of candidates who don’t meet the “viability” threshold can move on to support candidates who do. Measured for that outcome, Clinton polls 35.8 percent, Obama 33.4 percent, and Edwards 30.8 percent.

On the Republican side, where the margin of error is 3.4 percent, Huckabee and Mitt Romney are locked at 29 percent and 28 percent respectively, with John McCain at 11 percent and all others in single digits. The Republican caucus is a straight straw poll vote. See the previous Zogby Poll.

While a new McClatchy-NBC poll also shows statistical ties for the lead on both sides, it says that Edwards has clawed his way into contention with Clinton and Obama. This movement that was also reflected in a poll released Friday by Lee Enterprises newspapers. Edwards polled 24 percent to Clinton’s 23 percent and Obama’s 22 percent. Bill Richardson was the only other Democrat in double digits, with 12 percent. If supporters of non-viable candidates switch to those in the top tier, Edwards gains the most, rolling up a clear lead at 33 percent to 26 percent each for Clinton and Obama.

Among Republicans, Romney leads with 27 percent to Huckabee’s 23 percent, a drop of eight points for the former Arkansas governor since the last McClatchy-MSNBC survey in early December. Thompson has 14 percent, McCain has 13 percent and all the rest are in single digits. One in three Republican voters said they could still change their minds. The margin of error was 5 percent.

The pollsters said that the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto did not raise the profile of terrorism as an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign in Iowa,

During election seasons, readers are bombarded with news stories about the latest polls (confession: including by CQ Politics Poll Tracker). How do you know which ones are reliable and which ones are not, or how to compare one to another? The American Association for Public Opinion Research, a professional organization of public opinion and survey research professionals, has posted an online course to help separate the legitimate numbers from the sloppy surveys. Aimed at journalists, you can use it too.

The Association’s course is designed to help:

• Appreciate the value of solid polling data
• Understand the science of polling
• Identify the elements of a valid poll
• Interpret the methods box of a poll
• Analyze the quality of questions
• Identify appropriate sample groups
• Understand weighting and its value
• Evaluate polling agencies and sponsors

Click here and check it out.

The Washington Post also has a useful tutorial, "Five Tips for Decoding Those Election Polls," from Gary Langer, director of polling at ABC News, and Jon Cohen, director of polling at The Washington Post.

Another good resource is a piece by the Wharton School assessing how reliable polls are these days. Find it here.

Read the full Gallup take on Politics in 2007

As the year progressed, a number of the major candidates became much better known to the American public, yet their images often became more negative. This was the perhaps inevitable result of the intense media focus on their backgrounds and positions as well as attacks and criticisms from their opponents. As the year ended, Barack Obama, John McCain, and John Edwards had the most positive images of the major candidates for both parties.

On the Democratic side, the year began and ended with the same front-runner, at least as far as national standings. In contrast, the national ordering of candidate support on the Republican side was significantly different -- and more muddled -- in December than it had been in January.

Read the Waterloo-Cedar Rapids Courier story

A new Iowa caucus poll from Lee Enterprises newspapers shows the Democratic race is a virtual three-way tie, with John Edwards rising to tie Barack Obama for the lead and Hillary Clinton rising to just one point behind.

Edwards and Obama were tied with 29 percent to lead Democrats, followed by Clinton with 28 percent. Bill Richardson was fourth with 7 percent. Joe Biden was fifth with 3 percent. Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich both had 1 percent and 2 percent were undecided.

For Republicans, Mike Huckabee leads with 34 percent, followed by Mitt Romney with 27 percent. Fred Thompson is a distant third with 11 percent, followed by a three-way tie for fourth between Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Ron Paul, with 8 points each. Duncan Hunter had 1 percent and 3 percent were undecided.

The margin of error is 4.5 percent.

A Strategic Vision poll released Thursday had Obama, Clinton and Edwards at 30 percent, 29 percent and 28 percent respectively, well within its 4.5 percent margin of error. On the Republican side, Huckabee led Romney 29 percent to 27 percent, a statistical tie. Thompson was third at 15 percent followed by Giuliani at 14 percent and all others in single digits. The margin of error in this poll is also 4.5 percent.

If these polls can be believed about Edwards upward movement, it might make a prophet out of CQ Politics blogger Richard Whalen who predicted in his Dec. 17 posting that Edwards would win an upset victory in the caucuses.

Read the full story on the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll

This new poll says Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards are in a three-way dead heat in Iowa and that Clinton and Obama are in a statistical tie in New Hampshire, where Obama was trailing 35 percent to 16 percent in September, and now leads Clinton by 32 percent to 30 percent. The Iowa numbers are Clinton 29 percent, Obama 26 percent and Edwards 25 percent. The margin of error is 4 points.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee has opened up a 37 percent to 23 percent lead in Iowa over Mitt Romney who had for months been the frontrunner. The story is far different in New Hampshire where Huckabee does not have the advantage of evangelical support that he has in Iowa. As other polls have found, Huckabee is way in the back of the field at 9 percent, while Romney leads with 34%. John McCain has jumped into second place with 21 percent while Rudy Giuliani now languishes at 15 percent.

The pollsters say that support for Clinton and McCain might increase if voters in either state grow more concerned about international turmoil because of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Clinton scores higher than other Democrats when it comes to handling national security matters, and Republicans believe that McCain is best-equipped to handle foreign policy issues.

Read about the Associated Press/Yahoo poll

The AP/Yahoo poll, conducted Dec. 14-20, said that 47 percentof Democratic voters would support Hillary Clinton if a primary were held in their state now, followed by Barack Obama at 25 percent and John Edwards at 13 percent. None of the other candidates registered above low single digits. Asked who would be their second choice, Edwards led with 24 percent. On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee led Rudy Giuliani 22 percent to 21 percent, well within the 3.8 percent margin of error. John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson were bunched together at 14 percent, 13 percent and 11 percent respectively, followed by 12 percent who answered "Don't Know." The leader for second choice was McCain with 20 percent (if you don't count "Don't Know" at 22 percent).

Although Huckabee has surged to the top ranks, he has little reason to feel safe. The poll said our in 10 GOP voters have switched candidates in the past month alone, and nearly two-thirds say they may change their minds again. Half of all voters - including four in 10 Republicans - know too little about Huckabee to even say whether they have a favorable impression of him. The Democratic side is less chaotic, with Clinton maintaining a clear lead nationally over Barack Obama, though voters are still doing plenty of shifting.

Read the Gallup Report on the Democrats and the Republicans

Democrats: Gallup's analysis of its last two national polls, conducted in November and December, show Hillary Clinton's strongest leads for the nomination are among seniors, women, lower- and middle-income as well as lower-educated Democrats, Easterners, and Southerners. Clinton's advantage over Obama among these groups ranges from 22 to 35 points. Clinton also enjoys solid leads among non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Westerners, and pre-seniors (aged 50 to 64). Barack Obama does best among men, voters under 50, upper-income and upper-educated Democrats, and those living in the Midwest (the region of his home state of Illinois). However, he does no better than tie Clinton among any of these groups.

Republicans: Rudy Giuliani does best among moderate/liberal Republicans, those who seldom or never attend church, and younger Republicans. John McCain has a more even distribution of support, although he does at least slightly better among moderate/liberal Republicans. Mike Huckabee does much better among conservative Republicans, high-frequency church attenders, those who are older, and those in the South and Midwest. Mitt Romney's appeal is higher among conservative Republicans, and is slightly higher among older Republicans and those with college degrees. Fred Thompson's appeal is higher among conservatives and in the South.

Read Rasmussen Reports polls on Michigan and Illinois

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Michigan shows Hillary Clinton leading Rudy Giuliani 45 percent to 36 percent, Mitt Romney 45 percent to 39 percent, and Mike Huckabee 45 percent to 36 percent. If Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee, the results are essentially the same—Obama leads Giuliani 46 percent to 38 percent Huckabee 46 percent to 37 percent. Fifty-five percent agree with criticism that New Hampshire and Iowa have too much influence in determining the presidential candidates. Michigan’s Primary this year comes twelve days after the Iowa caucuses and one week after the New Hampshire Primary.

In Illinois, 46 percent would vote for a generic Democrat if the Presidential election were held today, while only 35 percent would vote for the GOP candidate. But Obama benefits more from the pro-Democratic leaning than does Clinton. Clinton with a 46 percent to 40 percent lead over former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a 45 percent to 41 percent lead over former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Obama dominates on his home turf leading Giuliani 55 percent to 31 percent and Huckabee 54 percent to 30 percent.

Read the full Gallup article

When asked what the words "family values" conjure up for them in the context of a political campaign, Americans most often say the family unit, family structure, or strong families. The vast majority of Americans say the candidates' positions on this issue will be extremely 36 percent or very 39 percent important to their vote. Only about one in four say the candidates' positions will not be important. Twelve percent of Americans reply cynically that the notion of family values is a political ploy, a way to win votes, or a phony issue. Eleven percent say "family values" connotes healthcare and health insurance to them. Ten percent mention morals and morality, and another 10% say abortion. The findings are based on a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted last month.

Read Pollster John Zogby's full article

Zogby says, "If we have learned one thing this year in American politics, it's that there is no such thing as an inevitable President." Here is his how he handicaps the Republican contenders:

• Rudy Giuliani's strategy of bypassing the early states and using his name recognition and leads in the polls to ride to victory in the big states was "flawed...He can still win the nomination, but even he has begun to see that he might end up in fourth- or even fifth-place in Iowa, third- or fourth-place in New Hampshire. Now, he's even down in Florida, because someone else - Mike Huckabee - has gained momentum in Iowa and built on it nationally."

• Mitt Romney had the opposite of Giuliani's strategy -- win big early. But Huckabee may upset that plan.

• Huckabee's rise owes to the fact that conservative Republicans, who hadn't considered him earlier because they didn't think he could win, "right now are experiencing a Mike Huckabee 'boomlet.' " But this may be his brief moment in the sun.

• John McCain bottomed out several months ago and now he, too, is having a "boomlet" because "he's very much back to being the maverick warrior" and has the support of Republicans who want to think that the Iraq "surge," which McCain supported, is working.

• Fred Thompson: "His candidacy has all the qualities of Baltic Avenue in a Republican sea of St. Charles Places."

• Ron Paul is "going to do better than anyone expects. Look to Paul to climb into the double-digits in Iowa. Why? He's different, he stands out. "

Read Full Pew Research Center report

Man-made and natural disasters dominated the list of the public's top news stories in 2007. Nearly half of Americans (45%) tracked news about the shootings of 33 students at Virginia Tech University very closely, while nearly as many paid very close attention to reports on the Minneapolis bridge collapse and the California wildfires. As was the case in 2006, however, the rising price of gasoline attracted the largest audience of any news story. In May, 52% of Americans said they tracked rising prices at the pump very closely.

Iraq continued to be a major story of interest but fell from 40 percent last January to 28 percent this month. The presidential campaign did not crack the top ten.

Read Full Rasmussen Reports poll

In a pair of test general election match-ups, John McCain beats Hillary Clinton 49 percent to 43 percent, but Clinton would fare better against Mike Huckabee whom she leads 47 percent to 43 percent in the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey. The Senator from Arizona is currently viewed favorably by 55 percent of the nation’s voters. That’s the most positive rating of any Presidential candidate in either party, the survey found. Just 33 percent of voters say they will definitely vote against him if he is on the ballot. Clinton has the highest level of core opposition—47 percent say they will definitely vote against her if she wins the nomination. Forty-two percent of voters nationwide have a favorable opinion of Huckabee while 42 percent have an unfavorable view.

Read the full Boston Globe poll

John McCain of Arizona, whose bid for the Republican presidential nomination was all but dead this summer, has made a dramatic recovery in the Granite State 2 1/2 weeks before the 2008 vote, and now trails frontrunner Mitt Romney by only 3 points. The poll, conducted from Dec. 16 to Dec. 20, has a margin of error for each party subsample of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Mitt Romney has the support of 28 percent of Republicans, followed by McCain at 25 percent and a fading Rudy Giuliani at 14 percent. The Globe poll last month had Romney at 32 percent, Giuliani at 20 percent, and McCain at 17 percent.

On the Democratic side, Barack Obama has a narrow 30 percent to 28 percent lead over Hillary Clinton, but that represents a big reversal from last month when Clinton had a 14 point lead in a state said to be a firewall for her against a possible loss in Iowa. John Edwards was third at 14 percent.

On the issue of healthcare, the leading concern of Democrats, 80 percent of likely Democratic voters said it should be the government's responsibility to ensure universal coverage, compared with just 30 percent of Republicans. On immigration, likely Republican voters in New Hampshire were most concerned about illegal immigrants taking government benefits, and indicated overwhelmingly that stopping the flow of undocumented immigrants into the country should be the top priority. Among Democrats, 42 percent indicated illegal immigration has not been a negative influence on the country. But a plurality of Democrats, 47 percent, indicated they believe that border security should be a higher priority than dealing with those already living the country illegally.

Read the full Rasmussen Reports polls on Republicans and Democrats

Rudy Giuliani is seen as politically moderate or liberal by 74 percent of Republican voters. 59 percent say the same about John McCain while 43 percent hold that view of Mitt Romney. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 41 percent now see Mike Huckabee as moderate or liberal and 39 percent see Fred Thompson in that manner.

Unlike the Republicans, Democrats see little ideological difference among their leading Presidential candidates. Obama is regarded as politically moderate or conservative by 50 percent of Democrats, 52 percent say the same about Edwards, and 62 percent see Clinton in that light.

Read full Pew Research Center article

Andrew Kohut, president of Pew Research, takes a look at what the polls are telling us about the different dynamics in the Republican and Democratic contests in the early voting states where, he says, the likely outcome of these contests is more in doubt than in any election cycle in recent history. "For the Democratic candidates," Kohut observes, "the decisive factors are personal and tactical. For Republican contestants, however, the ultimate outcome may be decided more by the relative strength of long quiescent but newly combative ideological elements within the GOP, a struggle that is likely to take longer to play out."

Read the full Zogby poll

Barack Obama would defeat all five of the top Republicans in prospective general election contests, performing better than either of his two top rivals, a new Zogby telephone poll shows. His margins range from a 4 percent edge over John McCain and a 5 percent edge over Mike Huckabee to an 18 percentage point lead over Mitt Romney, the survey shows. Against Rudy Giuliani he leads by 9 percent, and against Fred Thompson of Tennessee he holds a 16 point edge.

Hillary Clinton would defeat Romney by a narrow 46 percent to 44 percent margin and Thompson by a 48 percent to 42 percent margin. She would lose to Huckabee 48 percent to 43 percent to Giuliani 46 percent to 42 percent , and to McCain by a 49 percent to 42 percent margin. John Edwards would beat Romney, Huckabee, and Thompson, but would lose to Giuliani and McCain.

The telephone survey included 1,000 likely voters nationwide and carries a margin of error of +/– 3.2 percentage points. The poll was conducted Dec. 12–14.

Read the Gallup Polls on the Democrats and Republicans

A USA Today/Gallup poll of likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters, conducted Dec. 17-19, shows Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in a dead heat, each with 32 percent support. John Edwards is a solid third at 18 percent. Bill Richardson follows with 8 percent, Joe Biden with 4 percent, Dennis Kucinich with 3 percent and Chris Dodd at 1 percent. Fifty-six percent of all likely New Hampshire primary voters say they are certain to support their chosen candidate, meaning just under half can be swayed in the remaining days before the Jan. 8 contest. In the survey, New Hampshire Democrats seemed to be buying Obama's campaign argument that he can best bring "change" to Washington but they view Clinton as the most electable and most able to get things done.

Among the Republicans, Mitt Romney leads John McCain by a narrow 34 percent to 27 percent. All the others are way back in the pack with Rudy Giuliani at 11 percents, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul tied at 9 percent and Fred Thompson at 4 percent. In the poll, A little more than half of GOP likely voters in New Hampshire said they were certain to vote for their first choice. No single issue dominated the responses of Republican voters.

There’s a new round of pre-holiday polls today and many of the headlines bear out trends that emerged in surveys earlier this week: an extremely close contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Iowa; Clinton regaining some of her footing in New Hampshire but facing another close contest with Obama in South Carolina.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee sits on top of the pack in Iowa but has not had any traction in New Hampshire, where John McCain and Mitt Romney are tied for the lead. In South Carolina, Huckabee is running ahead of Romney by a comfortable but not insurmountable margin.

And there is more evidence in one new national poll that none of the Republican candidates has excited GOP voters enough to pull away from the other contenders. As in some other recent polls, Rudy Giuliani has slid precipitously.

An American Research Group poll of Iowa today has Clinton ahead of Obama 29 percent to 25 percent, in contrast to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Wednesday that had Obama ahead 33 percent to 29 percent. But both polls had a 4 point margin of error, making the race a statistical dead-heat.

Polls by ARG and a Washington Post-ABC News on the GOP Race in Iowa both put Huckabee in first, but they differ sharply on who runs second. ARG has McCain in second place at 20 percent with Romney third at 17 percent, while the Post-ABC survey has Huckabee over Romney by 35 percent to 27 percent, with McCain garnering a measly 6 percent.

In New Hampshire, ARG says Clinton leads with 29 percent to Obama’s 25 percent, a difference equal to the poll’s margin of error. John Edwards is third at 18 percent with everyone else in single digits. This week’s CNN/WMUR-TV poll gave Clinton more breathing room, with a 38 percent to 26 percent lead.

In South Carolina, SurveyUSA has Clinton and Obama neck-and-neck, with Clinton at 41 percent and Obama at 39 percent, with a 4.5 percent margin of error. But SurveyUSA says the real story may be that only Edwards is showing momentum, having climbed from 11 percent to 17 percent. Similarly, a CBS News poll had Obama ahead of Clinton 35 percent to 34 percent, and Edwards in third at 13 percent. Huckabee leads the Republicans with Romney in second place, but CBS says more than 70 percent of likely GOP voters say it is too early to definitely settle on a candidate.

There also were these polls from important states that voter later:

• Florida: Clinton leads Obama by a large margin, 43 percent to 21 percent with Edwards third at 19 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University survey. While Clinton appears to be running away with Florida on the Democratic side, Giuliani is hanging on to a 28 percent to 21 percent lead over Huckabee. They are followed by Romney at 20 percent and McCain at 13 percent.

• California: Giuliani leads with 25 percent in a new Field poll, the same level of support he had in October. But Huckabee has jumped from 4 percent in October to 17 percent. They are followed by Romney at 15 percent and McCain at 12 percent. Field says that in general election match-ups, both Clinton and Obama beat any of the four leading GOP contenders by double-digit margins.

National Polls and General Election Match-ups

A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted Dec. 18-19 found a GOP race that it described as "wide open." In a survey with a 3 point margin of error, Giuliani led with 20 percent, followed by McCain at 19 percent and the surging Huckabee, also with 19 percent. Romney is at 11 percent and Fred Thompson at 10 percent, which the pollsters characterized as "still within striking distance." A large share of Republican voters - 13 percent - are still undecided. Last February, Giuliani led by 24 points.

A New York Times poll earlier in December also found Republican voters to be "uninspired" by their choices.

The poll's handicapping of the Democrats had Clinton far in the lead with 49 percent, Obama with 20 percent, and Edwards at 10 percent. All others are in single digits.

In another national poll – the George Washington University Battleground Poll. Among likely Republican voters nationwide, Huckabee leads Giuliani 24 percent to 22 percent, followed by Romney at 16 percent and McCain at 15 percent. Among Democrats, Clinton leads Obama 47 percent to 23 percent with Edwards at 17 percent.

SurveyUSA took snapshots of several states for general election match-ups and turned up some surprising numbers in Virginia which usually goes Republican in picking presidents. Matched against four top Republicans, Clinton and Obama win every time, except for a McCain-Obama match-up which McCain would win.

In other states for which SurveyUSA conducted its automated surveys of registered voters on general election match-ups, there were these results when Obama and Clinton were pitted against Giuliani, Romney, McCain and Huckabee:

• New Mexico: Clinton beats all the Republicans except McCain. Obama loses to all the Republicans.

• Washington State: Clinton and Obama beat all Republicans.

• Oregon: Clinton beats all Republicans except McCain. Obama beats the entire field.

• Kansas: Any one of the Republicans beats Clinton or Obama.

• Kentucky: Clinton beats everyone but McCain. Any of the Republicans beat Obama.

• Alabama: Any of the Republicans beat Clinton and Obama.

Read the full ABC News/Washington Post poll

With two weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses, Mike Huckabee has taken the lead in the Republican race in what is now a two-man contest with Mitt Romney. Huckabee has the support of 35 percent of likely caucus-goers to Romney's 27 percent, and for the first time in the ABC-Post poll, none of the other candidates rise above single digits. The poll found that Republican women, particularly those who describe themselves as Evangelicals, are a major force behind Huckabee's rise. Three in ten of those polled named immigration as one of the top issues for them.

Read the full NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll

All through December, Rudy Giuliani has been slipping in both national and state polls ... including his own state of New York, but few of those polls have been as stark as the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey.

Giuliani had been the clear leader all year in this poll, but the latest numbers now show him tied at 20 percent with Mitt Romney among Republican primary voters. They are followed by Mike Huckabee at 17 percent; John McCain at 14 percent; and Fred Thompson at 11 percent. For Giuliani, it's a decline of 13 points since last month.

As for the Democrats, Hillary Clinton has maintained her lead with forty-five percent of Democratic primary voters saying they would vote for her, compared with 23 percent for Barack Obama and 13 percent for Edwards. No other Democratic candidate receives more than 4 percent.

A new batch of polls over the last three days shows Hillary Clinton still in a dead heat with Barack Obama in the first-to-vote Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, but regaining her footing in the first full-fledged primary in New Hampshire on Jan. 8.

As for the other early-voting state, South Carolina, the most recent poll has Mike Huckabee tied with Mitt Romney.

Looking further down the road, Clinton still holds double-digit but declining leads over Obama in big states like Florida and California. On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani still in California, but Huckabee has closed the gap from 21 points to eight points in the last six weeks.

In Iowa, the Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted Dec. 13-17 put Obama ahead of Clinton by 33 percent to 29 percent, a difference equal to the survey's 4 point margin of error. John Edwards is at 20 percent with everyone else in single digits.

However, in New Hampshire, where Clinton’s “firewall” against the prospect of an Iowa loss appeared to be cracking, she may have regained some of her footing. A CNN/WMUR-TV poll on Dec. 12 had Clinton in a statistical tie with Obama. But a new CNN/WMUR survey released today had Clinton in the lead 38 percent to 26 percent with Edwards at 14 percent. The caveat on this poll is that New Hampshire voters historically make up their minds late and 38 percent said they had not definitely decided for whom to vote.

A separate poll by Rasmussen Reports also finds a change in Clinton's favor in New Hampshire with her picking up 6 points to lead Obama 31 percent to 28 percent.

But perhaps a bigger development on the Republican side is the rising numbers of John McCain, fresh off his endorsements by the Manchester Union Leader and Boston Globe. Prior to those endorsements, Romney led McCain 33 percent to 18 percent. The latest survey shows the race tightening with Romney still at 33 percent, but McCain up to 27 percent.

In South Carolina, Rasmussen Reports released a Republicans poll on Monday that had Huckabee and Romney tied at 23 percent, followed by John McCain and Fred Thompson tied at 12 percent. In that race too, the pollsters warned that the voters’ choices were very fluid.

A new Field Poll in California reported that Clinton’s lead over Obama – once 25 points – has now fallen to a 36 percent to 22% margin. Edwards is in third with 13 percent and the others are in single digits. However, California Democrats see Clinton as more electable than Obama in November by a wide 52 percent to 18 percent margin. If Edwards were to drop out before California, the survey indicates his backers would be more inclined to support Obama. The number of Democratic voters who say they are undecided grew from 14 percent in October to 20 percent.

A separate SurveyUSA poll of California also showed Obama cutting into a Clinton lead it had put at 37 points two months ago. Now, Clinton leads Obama by a still considerable, but lesser, 49 percent to 30 percent. Among Republicans, Giuliani’s lead was once 21 points over his nearest rival; now he is ahead of Huckabee by only 28 percent to 20 percent.

In Florida, Huckabee has closed to five points of Giuliani, trailing by 29 percent to 24 percent.

As for the horse-race nationally, USA Today/Gallup reported Tuesday that Huckabee’s surge had leveled off and Giuliani led with 27 percent, followed by Huckabee’s 16 percent, and McCain, Thompson and Romney tied at 14 percent. Clinton led Obama 45 percent to 27 percent with 15 percent for Edwards.

A Diageo-Hotline poll, also released Tuesday, showed no clear favorite in either party in a “national primary.”

There were a number of national and state polls that matched-up the leading Democratic contenders against the Republican leaders.

Gallup found in a poll released today that Obama does as well as or better than Clinton against Giuliani, Romney and Huckabee while Giuliani does better than his rivals against Clinton or Obama.

On a regional scale, a series of polls by SurveyUSA in four heartland states –Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Missouri – generally showed that Clinton won in match-ups against the top GOP candidates more than Obama and, on the Republican side, the top tier Republican who fared the worst in each state was Romney.

See the full Washington Post-ABC News poll

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are still deadlocked in the Democratic race in Iowa with John Edwards in third place, pushing to the forefront the question of who will do the best job of turning out their supporters for the Jan. 3 caucus. Obama leads with 33 percent, followed by Clinton with 29 percent and Edwards with 20 percent. All others are in single digits. The poll was conducted Dec.13-17 and the margin of error is 4 points.

See full USA Today/Gallup poll

Democrats would continue to have an edge if the election were held today. Specifically, Barack Obama does better than Hillary Clinton against two out of three Republican candidates, while Rudy Giuliani does better than either Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney against the Democrats. Additionally, the new poll shows that the Democrats are comfortably ahead of the Republicans when voters are asked for which party's candidate for the House of Representatives they would vote next November.

Read the full Diageo Hotline poll

This "national primary" poll of voters in both parties reports that there is no clear favorite on either side. Hillary Clinton's 35 percent to 30 percent lead over Barack Obama is within the margin of error, as is Rudy Giuliani's 21 percent to 17 percent lead over Mike Huckabee. Only one other Democrat is in double-digits -- John Edwards, at 14 percent. Among Republicans, Mitt Romney is third at 13 percent followed by Fred Thompson at 11 percent, John McCain at 10 percent and Ron Paul at 7 percent. The poll of 336 Democratic voters and 291 Republican voters was conducted Dec. 10-14 and has a 5.3 percent margin of error on the Democratic side and 5.7 percent on the Republican side.

SurveyUSA released polls of four states showing head-to-head match-ups of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama against the top four Republican contenders, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. The survey did not test Democrat John Edwards or Republican Fred Thompson.

The results from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Missouri are somewhat of a mixed bag, but some findings stand out.

• Clinton wins the GOP match-ups in the four states more than Obama. She is ahead in Minnesota against all four Republicans by 9 points or more; she beats all four in Wisconsin, though by smaller margins; she is tied with McCain in Ohio but comfortably ahead of the rest; and, in Missouri, outruns all four Republicans but by six or less points, and by only two points over Huckabee, who was governor of neighboring Arkansas.

• Obama beats the Republican field in Minnesota except for McCain; barely edges McCain in Wisconsin; runs behind Giuliani and McCain in Ohio; and loses narrowly to Huckabee in Missouri while besting the rest of the GOP candidates.

• The Republican who runs worst in the four states is Romney.

Read full SurveyUSA polls on Florida and California

Rudy Giuliani may need to be looking over his shoulder at Mike Huckabee if the former New York City mayor is still counting on overcoming the possibility of early state losses by winning the big states later. Riding a huge surge of conservative support, Huckabee has gained 6 points in the last two weeks and now trails Giuliani by only 29 percent to 24% percent, just slightly above the poll’s 4.8 margin of error. Mitt Romney polls at 20 percent and everyone else is in single digits.

Giuliani’s lead in California – once 21 points – is now down to 8 points. He leads the pack with 28 percent, but Huckabee has gone from 8 percent six weeks ago to 20 percent today. There is a virtual three way tie for third with Romney at 16 percent, John McCain at 14 percent and Fred Thompson at 13 percent. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 49 percent to 30 percent, narrowing a 37 point margin favoring Clinton two months ago. John Edwards is at 14 percent with all other candidates in single digits. The biggest factor in the swing toward Obama has been the movement of male voters towards his fold that last fall had favored Clinton.

Read Gallup Polls on Republicans and Democrats

After a recent surge in national Republican support for Mike Huckabee for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, springing him from a distant fifth place in early November into a tie for second at the end of the month, a new USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Dec. 14-16, finds that Huckabee's rapid rise has leveled off. And a survey of Demnocrats during the same period showed that Hillary Clinton still has a substantial national lead over her rivals despite her struggles in polls of early voting states.

The latest GOP poll results are nearly identical to what they were in Gallup's late November/early December survey. Giuliani has the support of 27 percent of Republicans, followed by Huckabee at 16 percent with John McCain, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney tied at 14 percent. All others are in low single digits.

Gallup credited Huckabee's surge in early state polls for giving him valuable media attention and contributing to his rise in the national standings. As the Project For Excellence in Journalism noted in its weekly index of news coverage, "...even with 'the Oprah effect' generating major coverage last week, no narrative seemed more compelling than the improbable rise of Huckabee. (Newsweek’s Dec. 17 cover headline, “Holy Huckabee!” was a double entendre, referring both to the candidate’s overt religiosity and the stunning success, at least to this point, of his long shot campaign.)"

Clinton enjoys the support of 45 percent of Democrats compared to 27 percent for Barack Obama, and 15 percent for John Edwards. All others are way behind in low single digits. Both Clinton and Obama increased their support in comparison to previous Gallup polls. If the race for the Democratic nomination narrows down to just Clinton and Obama, 55 percent of Democrats say they would prefer Clinton, while 38 percent would prefer Obama.

The margin of error in both Democratic and Republican polls is 5 percent.

Read the full Rasmussen Reports poll

Huckabee and Romney share the lead with 23 per cent of the vote followed by John McCain and Fred Thompson at 12 percent, and Rudy Giuliani at 11 percent. Ron Paul is supported by 5 percent while Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter are both at 1 per cent with the rest undecided.  Two weeks ago, Huckabee held a seven-point lead over Romney and Thompson and a month ago Romney and Thompson were tied for the top spot and Huckabee was nine points behind in fourth place. The figures on just how certain voters will stick with their current choices indicate that the race is still very fluid. Immigration rates as the top issue among voters, followed closely by the economy.

Read the full Quinnipiac Poll

Rudolph Giuliani's lead in the New York State Republican presidential primary is shrinking as he gets 34 percent to former Arizona Gov. Mike Huckabee's 12 percent, with 11 percent for Arizona Sen. John McCain, 7 percent for former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and 5 percent each for Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. This is down from a 45 - 12 percent Giuliani lead over Thompson in an October 17 poll.

In the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 55 - 17 percent, with 7 percent for . John Edwards. This compares to a 49 - 12 percent Clinton lead October 17.

On the issues, 55 percent of voters say immigration reform should focus on stricter enforcement of laws against illegal immigration, while 34 percent say the focus should be on integrating immigrants into American society.

Read the full Gallup Poll

Americans' assessments of the U.S. economy continue to be pessimistic, according to a new Gallup Poll. Americans are about equally likely to describe current economic conditions as excellent or good as they are to describe them as poor. Roughly one in five Americans say economic conditions in this country are getting better, a slight improvement since last month, but still among the most negative Gallup has measured since 1992.

Read full Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll

Favorite son Barack Obama holds a 2-1 advantage over native daughter Hillary Clinton among Democrats looking to cast ballots in Illinois' Feb. 5 presidential primary, but voters are split between the two when asked who has the best chance of winning the White House, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.

Among Republicans, Mike Huckabee's surge of support in Iowa also has reached Illinois. He and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani are in a virtual dead heat atop the list of GOP contenders, though few of those polled said they believe Huckabee could win the general election.

The Democratic figures showed Obama at 50 percent; Hillary Clinton at 25 percent, Edwards at 7 percent an all others at less than 2 percent. The Republican poll had at 23 percent, Huckabee with 21 percent, Mitt Romney with 14 percent, John McCain with 12 percent and Fred Thompson with 11 percent. The others were at 3 percent or less. The margin of error was 4.4 percent.

Mike Huckabee has come from almost nowhere this summer to take the Republican lead in South Carolina. And in New Hampshire, Barack Obama has come from behind to edge one point ahead of Hillary Clinton.

Mike Huckabee has gone from 3 percent support in the CNN/Opinion Research poll in July to the head of the pack in South Carolina. Huckabee was the choice of 24 percent of South Carolina Republicans in the survey conducted by telephone between Dec. 9 and 12. Fred Thompson was second with 17 percent, Rudy Giuliani, who led in July with 30 percent, dropped to a tie for third with Mitt Romney, both at 16 percent. Romney's showing was a major improvement of his 6 percent standing in the previous survey. John McCain fell from 21 percent to 13 percent and Ron Paul improved from 2 percent to 11 percent. Sampling error is 4 percent.

On the Democratic side, Clinton leads with 42 percent, Barack Obama second at 34 percent and John Edwards third with 16 percent. The others are in low single digits. Obama moved up 7 points since July, helped by support from black voters. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.

In New Hampshire, a Concord Monitor/Research 2000 poll showed Obama at 32 percent, Clinton at 31 percent, and Edwards at 18 percent with all others in single digits. The pollsters said their survey "suggests that the Democratic race could hinge on the turnout of undeclared voters, who aren't registered with either political party. Much of Obama's backing comes from undeclared voters, while registered Democrats make up the bulk of Clinton's support. In New Hampshire, undeclared voters can vote in either party primary, giving them sway in both contests."

On the GOP side, the race has remained constant with Mitt Romney holding a double digit lead over all opponents.

Read full report by the Pew Hispanic Center

Just over half of all Hispanic adults in the United States worry that they, a family member or a close friend could be deported, a new nationwide survey of Latinos by the Pew Hispanic Center has found. Nearly two-thirds say the failure of Congress to enact an immigration reform bill has made life more difficult for all Latinos. However, when respondents were asked about changes in the overall situation of Latinos in this country in the past year, no consensus view emerged. About one-in-three say things have gotten worse, about one-in-four say things have gotten better, and about four-in-ten say there has been no change.

Hispanics are the nation's largest minority group, numbering 47 million (about 15.5% of the total U.S. population). About a quarter of Hispanic adults are unauthorized immigrants, most of them arriving as part of a heavy wave of immigration that began gathering force in the 1970s

Read the full Quinnipiac University Poll

All the attention lately has been on early state polls, and national match-ups, where Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani have been slipping. But the story is different in some of the polls of the states that vote on the Feb.5 mega-primary day as well as some other big states that are pivotal in the general election.. Quinnipiac reported earlier this month that Clinton had commanding leads in Florida (votes Jan. 29), Ohio (votes Mar. 4)and Pennsylvania (votes Apr. 22) and that Giuliani remained ahead of the pack on the GOP side but was less dominant.

The same state of play appears to be true in New Jersey which was one of the states in the Feb. 5 mega-primary line-up. In a new Qunnipiac survey, Clinton leads Illinois Sen. Barack Obama 51 - 17 percent, with 7 percent for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. This compares to a 46 - 20 percent Clinton lead over Obama in an October 17 poll. Giuliani leads Arizona Sen. John McCain 38 - 12 percent, with 8 percent for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 7 percent for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and 4 percent for former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson. This compares to a 48 - 12 percent Giuliani lead over McCain October 17.

There is a geographical explanation that plays into this result. "New Jersey voters know the girl and boy next door, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and apparently are sticking with them. There's no Oprah bump in Sen. Barack Obama's numbers and the Huckabee factor is minor in the Republican race, where Sen. John McCain is the second place contender," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Read the full Gallup Poll

A new Gallup Poll, conducted Dec. 6-9, finds 37 percent of Americans approving of the job George W. Bush is doing as president, an improvement from his recent scores in the low 30s. Meanwhile, 22 percent of Americans approve of Congress, essentially unchanged from last month. Both Bush's and Congress' ratings remain low by historical standards.

Much has been written about New Hampshire being Hillary Clinton's firewall if she loses in the Iowa caucuses to Barack Obama. But a new CNN/WMUR poll now shows her in a statistical tie with Obama in the first primary state. Clinton's support is at 31 percent compared to Obama's 30 percent. As for the Republicans, Mike Huckabee may be catching fire nationally and in Iowa, but he is in single digits in New Hampshire with Mitt Romney still on top with 32 percent followed by Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, tied at 19 percent.

In a new Rasmussen Reports poll of New Hampshire, Obama is ahead of Clinton 31 percent to 28 percent. There was little change for the other Democrats. John Edwards now attracts 17 percent support, Bill Richardson 8 percent, Joe Biden 4 percent and Dennis Kucinich 3 percent. Mike Gravel and Chris Dodd split a point between them and 7 percent are undecided. Rasmussen says, “One of the great challenges in polling for the New Hampshire Primary is determining who will show up and vote…Among voters who are “certain” they will vote on January 8, Obama leads Clinton 31 percent to 27 percent with John Edwards at 18 percent.”

Back in Iowa, the Rasmussen survey still has the Democratic contest too close to call, with Clinton at 29 percent and Obama at 26 percent, a difference that is exactly the margin of error. Edwards has slipped several points to 22 percent and all the others are in single digits.

See the full ABC News/Washington Post poll

Yet another poll provides evidence that Mike Huckabee is closing in fast on Rudy Giuliani for the frontrunner position in the GOP presidential contest. Giuliani is still in the lead in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, but his margin is now 25 percent to Huckabee’s 19 percent – his lowest national lead since the campaign began. Huckabee gained nine points in this poll. And Giuliani’s support appears soft - 28 percent back him "strongly," down from 45 percent in November. Mitt Romney ranked third at 17 percent, with Fred Thompson at 14 percent and John McCain at 12 percent.

A Rasmussen Reports poll earlier Tuesday showed Huckabee in a statistical dead heat nationally with Giuliani, mirroring the results of a CNN/Opinion Research survey released a day earlier.

The Democratic race has changed little with Hillary Clinton now enjoying the support of 53 percent of likely Democratic voters to 23 percent for Barack Obama. John Edwards follows with 10 percent. All the others were in low single digits

Read the full Rasmussen Reports Iowa poll</