The latest national Rasmussen poll has Senator Barack Obama moving up into a tie with Senator Hillary Clinton for the lead in the Democratic nomination contest, according to Reuters:
Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, has steadily gained on Clinton, a veteran on the national political scene, over the last month and each now polled 32 percent among likely Democratic voters, the survey by Rasmussen Reports found. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina was third in the poll with 17 percent.
In late March, New York's Clinton held a 12-point lead over Illinois' Obama in the Rasmussen poll.The survey was the latest sign the former first lady, who now represents New York in the Senate, will have a tough fight ahead to win the Democratic nomination.
Read the entire article at the link above. After Obama nearly tied her 1st-quarter fundraising record and out-raised her in money for use in the primaries, this is another hard blow to the Clinton campaign. Look for Hillary to attempt to underline the difference in their levels of policy understanding in the upcoming debates.
Obama's dramatic rise from nowhere is reminiscent of the Dean boom in 2003. From single-digit obscurity, Dean road an internet fundraising machine that collected over $40 million for the primaries before the first vote was cast, a Democratic record. He became the presumptive nominee - until a series of gaffes exposed his inexperience and breathed new life into the campaigns of Kerry, Edwards, and Gephardt.
Hillary and Richardson won't make the mistake Kerry and Gephardt made in 2004, when Dean had a free ride in most of the debates and was able to just repeat much of his stump speech. Obama and Edwards should be challenged on specifics, early and repeatedly.
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2008 Presidential Race, Democrats, Hillary, Obama, Polls
Tags: Hillary Clinton, Obama, poll, presidential campaign
