MSNBC's First Read: Obama's Momentum

FIRST THOUGHTS: OBAMA'S MOMENTUM
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro

DES MOINES, IA -- So what do we think of the new Des Moines Register poll, which shows Obama leading Clinton and Edwards, 32%-25%-24%? No matter how you slice it, it provides a definite momentum boost for the Obama folks; it’s the equivalent of receiving the paper’s endorsement (as Clinton actually did a couple of weeks ago). Perhaps most important of all, for those Iowans who like Obama but don’t think he can win, the poll is a validator of sorts. That said, the Clinton and Edwards campaigns are taking issue with the survey, and we’d do the same thing if we were in their shoes. In the poll, a “whopping” 40% identified themselves as independents and another 5% said they were Republicans. Polling the Iowa caucuses has always been difficult, because it’s hard gauge who, exactly, will turn out. The Register, however, has always been considered the “gold standard” of Iowa polls, and it got it right in 2004...

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/01/542047.aspx