Correction - I misread the article. This was a national poll, not a California poll. Still, it's good news for Obama.
Clinton is at 42% and Obama at 33%, over that magic 30 percent marker.
In their obvious bias they're spinning it as good news for Clinton saying that she's holding onto a "solid lead." But when their own poll has Obama within double digits. Only in the third paragraph do you read that Obama's numbers constitute a "significant increase" from their last poll.
Meanwhile, the three Republican leaders are in a statistical tie (within the margin of error) with none of them over a quarter of Republican votes.
Clinton was preferred by 42% of the likely Democratic voters polled, and Obama by 33% -- a significant increase for the senator from Illinois since a similar poll in early December, when he was the choice of 21%. Support for the senator from New York remained virtually unchanged over that period.
The overall preference figures mask a pronounced racial divide among Democratic voters: About two-thirds of black respondents said they would vote for Obama, whereas only about a fourth of white respondents said he was their choice.
The poll also found that an increasing number of Democratic voters -- about two-thirds -- said they were certain whom they would vote for, making major swings in preference less likely as the primary season heads into the states with the most delegates at stake.
"Now that Democrats have winnowed down their race to two leading candidates, they are moving toward the candidates they will probably vote for," said Susan Pinkus, the poll's director. "Obama has gained some support, but Clinton has not lost any. The question now is: Where do the remaining voters go?"
The Times also doesn't bother to analyze Obama's movement, but since the last poll was conducted in December I suppose it could be attributed to all sorts of events. Point is, it differs significantly from other polls taken last week. I know that comparing polls is sometimes like comparing apples and oranges since they use different methods, but it's possible that Monday night's debate had some impact.