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Clinton Leads Obama Nationally, But GOP Outlook Less Than Clear

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.

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