The first CBS News/New York Times poll of the presidential race in Iowa finds Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama in a statistical tie. In the new poll, Clinton's support is measured at 25 percent, followed by Edwards at 23 percent, Obama at 22 percent, Bill Richardson at 12 percent, Joe Biden at 4 percent, and Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd both at 1 percent. Eleven percent of the 793 likely Democratic caucus voters were undecided.
In most public polls released prior to November 2007 either Obama and Edwards were within single-digits of the New York Senator, but not both challengers. Last week's Zogby poll and the new CBS/NYT poll find both Obama and Edwards closing the gap on Clinton.
Pundits have noted Senator Clinton has had her first 'bad week' of the '08 campaign —her campaign admitted to planting a question at a campaign stop in Iowa, days after getting criticized harshly in the press for her performance during the last Democratic debate.
On the Republican side, Mitt Romney leads in the new CBS/NYT poll with 27 percent, followed by Mike Huckabee at 21 percent, Rudy Giuliani at 15 percent, and Fred Thompson at 9 percent. This is the first public poll to give Huckabee more than 20 percent of the Republican vote in any state, aside from his home state of Arkansas, where he was governor.
John McCain received the nod from just 4 percent of the 480 likely Republican caucus voters polled—the second lowest amount of support he has received in the nearly 30 public polls taken in Iowa during the past year. McCain is now tied with Ron Paul, who also received 4 percent, with Paul about to launch a significant advertising campaign in the Hawkeye State. Paul is already polling close to 10 percent in New Hampshire, and recently raised more than $4 million in one day.
Tom Tancredo (3 percent) and Duncan Hunter (2 percent) round out the GOP field, with 10 percent undecided.
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