New Hampshire Poll Out----Good News for Dean and Clark

Dean gains in poll of N.H.
Leads Kerry by 23 points
By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff, 12/14/2003

Over the past month, Howard Dean has carefully refashioned himself as the ordained Democratic pick for president, using key endorsements to shed his insurgent image and to create an aura of inevitability around his campaign. And in New Hampshire, at least, the approach has worked: Less than two months before the state primary, Dean holds a stronger lead than ever before, and is overwhelmingly viewed as the strongest Democrat against President Bush. Dean is ahead by 23 percentage points, with 42 percent favoring the former Vermont governor and 19 percent supporting his closest rival, Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, said the survey, conducted by KRC Communications Research for The Boston Globe and WBZ-TV. The endorsement from former Vice President Al Gore apparently helped, with 20 percent of those surveyed -- including 15 percent of undecided voters -- saying they are more likely to vote for Dean as a result.

So firmly has Dean established himself that almost 60 percent of Democrats in New Hampshire now expect him to be the party's eventual nominee. Even among Kerry's supporters, more than a third, or 37 percent, see Dean as the inevitable winner of the nomination -- while none of the Dean supporters can envision Kerry in that role.

The only candidate other than Dean to have made progress over the last month is Wesley K. Clark, the retired general now locked solidly in third place in New Hampshire with 13 percentage points and widely favored as the candidate best able to fight terrorism and rebuild Iraq. But for the rest of the field, especially Kerry, who trailed Dean by 13 points in October, the poll -- conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, just after Gore's endorsement and the Democratic debate in Durham, N. H. -- offered a bleak forecast for the nation's first primary on Jan. 27. It suggests that the real opportunities for Dean's rivals will be in Iowa and other early voting states.

link: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/primaries/new_hampshire/articles/2003/12/14/dean_gains_in_poll_of_nh/

GOD I hope!

... I think we'll get the horse race we political junkies have been hoping for.

:D

if the poll numbers remain static and reflects the results and Dean runs away with it that badly, then second place doesn't mean a whole lot.

But when one contrasts Dean's "high publicity" media onslaught, his endorsement by Gore, and his campaigning in NH for the last two years; Clark, who is on "operation Pundit Ignore", came into the race 3 months ago, and has gotten less than favorable press, coming in 2nd would be a coup. Third would be acceptable considering.

If you think otherwise, then I agree to disagree with your assessment.