Zogby's comments
Kerry Holds Seven-Point Lead in New Hampshire
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MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites)'s lead over Howard Dean (news - web sites) dipped slightly, but he still holds a formidable seven-point advantage two days before the New Hampshire primary, according to a Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll released Sunday.
Kerry led Dean 30 percent to 23 percent in the latest three-day tracking poll, with Wesley Clark (news - web sites) dropping one percentage point to 13 percent and John Edwards (news - web sites) and Joseph Lieberman both gaining on Clark at 9 percent.
"Dean had another good polling day, actually bouncing back to 25 points Saturday compared to Kerry's 28," said pollster John Zogby. "The race looks as though it is tightening, however, it is Kerry's to lose at this point."
A tracking poll combines the results of three consecutive nights of polling, then drops the first night's results each time a new night is added. It allows pollsters to record shifts in voter sentiment as they happen.
The number of undecided voters was 13 percent but rose slightly on the final day of polling, "indicating a shift may be taking place," Zogby said.
The Democratic race in New Hampshire was turned upside down by the results of Monday's Iowa caucuses, where Kerry rolled to a big win and one-time front-runner Dean, the former governor of Vermont, collapsed to third place in the race to find a challenger to President Bush (news - web sites).
Dean, who once held a 20-point lead over Kerry in New Hampshire, said Saturday he was poised for a comeback. Kerry, a senator from neighboring Massachusetts, said he would not take anything for granted as the state's notoriously independent-minded electorate ponders its choice in Tuesday's primary.
Clark, the retired general and former NATO (news - web sites) commander, was facing a late charge from Edwards and Lieberman for third place. Lieberman, a Connecticut senator, gained two percentage points and Edwards, a North Carolina senator, gained one point to move within striking distance of Clark.
The poll showed Kerry still leads among most groups of voters, including union members, but Dean was beginning to regain lost ground among the college-educated, young voters and independents, the state's largest voting bloc who can vote in either party's primary.
The poll of 601 likely primary voters was taken Thursday through Saturday and has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. It will continue through Tuesday, the day of the New Hampshire primary.
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich (news - web sites) received 2 percent in the poll, with civil rights activist Al Sharpton (news - web sites) getting 1 percent.