DENISON, Iowa – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is leading in Iowa six days before the caucuses, with John Edwards edging out Sen. Barack Obama, a new poll shows.
Clinton snares 31 percent of the Hawkeye State vote, while Edwards gets 25 percent and Obama is third at 22 percent among likely caucus-goers, an LA Times/Bloomberg poll released last night shows.
The poll shows Clinton’s “experience”-heavy message in the state has been working – 79 percent of Democrats say they believe she’s ready to be president, while just 43 percent believe that about Obama.
The new numbers come as Obama has sharpened his attacks on both Clinton and Edwards, bringing out a fresh Iowa stump speech that hits both rivals hard.
Among Republicans, Mike Huckabee has surged to a 14-point lead over Mitt Romney – snaring 37 percent to Romney’s 23 percent, according to the poll, which shows Iowa as a two-man GOP contest.
But in New Hampshire, Clinton’s lead has disappeared, with Obama ahead 32-30 percent, the poll shows.
Romney polled at 34 percent in the Granite State and maintains a double-digit lead, but Sen. John McCain has gained ground with 21 percent. Rudy Giuliani was at 15 percent and Huckabee scored in single digits.
Also yesterday, Obama adviser David Axelrod raised eyebrows when he appeared to link the slaying of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to Clinton’s vote for the Iraq war.
“I mean, she was a strong supporter of the war in Iraq, which we would submit is one of the reasons why we were diverted from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and al Qaeda, who may have been players in this event today,” Axelrod said. “So that’s a judgment she’ll have to defend.”
Later, he backed away from the statement.