Clinton Leads in Aggregate of Latest Iowa Polls

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Breaking News: The Des Moine Register will post the results of its latest Iowa poll online at 10:00 pm tonight.

The Los Angeles Times reports an aggregate of the results of the Reuters/Zogby, American Research Group, and McClatchy/MSNBC polls show Clinton with 30% support, Edwards 27% and Obama 26%, a statistical dead heat.

Individual poll results showed:


In the Reuters/Zogby poll, Hillary leads Obama by four points and Edwards by seven points.

The American Research Group's latest poll shows Clinton leading both Obama and Edwards by seven points.

McClatchy/MSNBC differs from the other two polls by showing Edwards, Clinton, and Obama with only a one- or two-point spread.

(The aggregate did not include A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll released last week that showed Sen. Hillary Clinton leading in Iowa at 31 percent, followed by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards at 25 percent and Sen. Barack Obama at 22 percent. The poll was conducted from Dec. 20-23 and Dec. 26-27.)

Hillary Clinton Wins Las Vegas Debate

I watched the Las Vegas debate last night (See YouTube), and I’m in complete agreement with CNN’s post-debate analysis: Clinton was the clear winner.

In comparison to all of the other candidates on that stage, Obama and Edwards appeared callow and unpresidential in their clumsy attempts to elevate themselves by slinging mud at frontrunner Clinton. In fact, the audience booed each of the two second-place guys for their inappropriate personal attacks on Clinton.

Marc Cooper at the Huffington Post acknowledged that ironically it was Obama who stumbled on the immigration question: “When asked for a simple yes or no answer on whether he supported the granting of driver licenses to the undocumented, Obama offered an indirect and rambling explanation and only said "yes" after being prodded by the moderator.”

Cooper summarizes Clinton’s effectiveness in responding to attacks from Obama and Edwards:

“During the first fiery ten minutes of the debate, Obama showed a heated passion and determination to challenge the front-runner. But as Clinton steadily shot back at him, Obama seemed to cool and never regained the dramatic edge he might have initially achieved.

“The same can be said for candidate Edwards. He came out bashing Clinton as supporting a political system he called "rigged" and "corrupt" but after her accusation of mud-slinging, the former North Carolinian seemed to recede into the background of the debate.”

After last night’s debate I decided that if push came to shove, I’d vote for any of the other four candidates before I’d vote for Obama or Edwards; I suggest they go home and grow up before running for office again.