The right-wing Las Vegas Review-Journal today released a new poll of likely caucus goers in Nevada. (Nevada's caucus is on January 19, after Iowa's, but before New Hampshire's primary.)
Even as other Republican presidential candidates' support in Nevada fluctuates, Mitt Romney's continues to grow, putting him tied for the lead with national front-runner Rudy Giuliani in a new independent poll of likely caucus goers.
Meanwhile, far from being dented by other Democratic candidates' attempts to make inroads, Hillary Clinton's lead has soared to more than 50 percent in the poll conducted over the weekend by American Research Group.
The New York senator and former first lady's 51 percent was 37 points ahead of the second-place candidate, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who had 14 percent, while Illinois Sen. Barack Obama had 11 percent.
The poll of 600 voters on each side who said they planned to participate in party caucuses in January carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Despite the tight Republican race and the blowout lead by Hillary, things in Nevada have been mostly quiet, with relatively sparse media coverage of the campaign, suggesting the likelihood that current polling won't necessarily match the final results.
A few weeks ago, Edwards (who I support, sans Gore), shifted some resources out of the state to Iowa.
Yesterday, Obama announced new resources being added into the state:
Obama opening four offices
By MOLLY BALL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Despite lagging in statewide polls, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is well positioned to win the Nevada caucuses because of his organizational presence in the state, his national campaign manager said Wednesday.
The campaign is opening four new offices in Nevada -- North Las Vegas, southwest Las Vegas, Carson City and Pahrump -- and new hires bring its number of field organizing staffers to 50, David Plouffe said in a conference call with Nevada reporters.
"We are going to have the capability to talk to voters in their precincts and make sure they show up on that Saturday," when the caucuses are held in January, Plouffe said. "A caucus is a very, very different type of contest than a primary. Organization can be the key to success in a caucus."
Interesting times, these are!