The latest South Carolina poll shows Barack Obama within 3 points of Hillary Clinton, who is still leading but fading here -- mirroring results for the Democrats of a Clemson University poll released on Nov. 29.
Mike Huckabee is now leading Republicans in South Carolina, coming out of nowhere, as he had elsewhere recently. (Will the Republicans ever be able to find a candidate that sticks? I don't think so. Will Republicans hold their nose and vote for the least-offensive candidate in the primary? Or just stay home? I don't know. But I still see a remarkable lack of enthusiasm for any Republican candidates in the Upstate of South Carolina, which is prime Republican territory.)
Here are the Democratic numbers from the latest poll, released today:
Hillary Clinton, 28 percent.
Barack Obama, 25 percent.
John Edwards, 18 percent.
Here are the Republican numbers:
Huckabee, 20 percent.
Rudy Giuliani, 17 percent.
Mitt Romney, 15 percent.
Fred Thompson, 14 percent
John McCain, 10 percent.
Survey margin of error, 5 percent, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research for McClatchy Newspapers.
Full story in The State newspaper, Columbia, SC, (which also has front-page coverage of the Oprah/Obama rally today) at http://www.thestate.com/...
A Nov. 29th poll by Clemson University had similar percentages separating the Democrats, but with higher undecideds. It showed Hillary at 19, Obama at 17 and Edwards at 12.
The Republican numbers from just a week ago are startlingly different, which I think shows just how desperate and uncommitted Republicans are:
Fred Thompson 19 percent.
Rudy Giuliani 18 percent.
John McCain 15 percent.
Mitt Romney 11 percent.
Mike Huckabee 6 percent.
Ron Paul 1 percent.
On a personal note, I have had a flyer from one candidate left on my door or mailbox or car 3 times so far. All for the same candidate. Ron Paul. (Kind of scary, huh?)
Been contacted by phone by the Obama and Edwards campaign.
Saw my first Huckabee sign here in Greenville today, but it could have shown up earlier. (I didn't get out much this week.)
Mitt Romney's personal sign stalker, the one who kept putting up homemade signs next to Romney's that call Romney a Flip-Flopper, has either given up or moved to a different part of town. Haven't seen his signs lately and I did enjoy them.
And I swear, Ron Paul still has more little campaign signs here than anyone else, which is just freaky, IMHO.