Saturday roundup: Clinton hit for having a plant, and Udall is in for sure

• Democrats now favored in New Mexico
  

Yesterday's reports were correct, and Tom Udall confirmed that he was in the Senate race via his chief of staff who told the AP today, "He's definitely running." The Udall campaign also released an internal poll, and the numbers are pretty much in line with everything else we have seen from independent polls:

• Tom Udall crushes both Heather Wilson 52% to 36% and Steve Pearce 50% to 33%.
• Marty Chavez, on the other hand, only leads Wilson by 4 (47-43) and trails Pearce by as much (44-40).
• The survey also contains the first primary poll we have seen, and has Udall up 50% to 30%.

This is an internal poll, so take it with a grain of salt. But the general election numbers are strikingly identical to the two SUSA polls and the Research 2000 poll that were released over the past month. And this finally marks the end of the recruitment saga in New Mexico, as we can now pretty much be sure that Richardson will not jump in in February if (when) his presidential run falters. Though House recruitment is only starting as congressional committees now have to deal with three open seats

• Plants in Iowa

The big story of the week-end in presidential politics erupted in Grinnell College. The college newspaper reported that the Clinton campaign had approached a student to prep her about what to ask before the event. The Clinton campaign has had to defend herself since the story broke; her staff said that Hillary had not been told of this and had not been specifically pushed to call on that student during the Q&A. They also said that this was a one-time thing and they would not do so again. But there were soon reports of a previous incident, even more problematic than the one at Grinnell College.

This is the last thing Hillary wants the media to focus on right now, at a time she already is getting so much bad press. The media narrative is all about her decline, and she desperately needs to get some good news going. Sensing her vulnerability, her rivals attacked her immediately. John Edwards took the lead, comparing Hillary to Bush: "That's what George does: George Bush goes to events that are staged where people are screened. That’s not the way democracy works in Iowa." The Bush-Clinton comparisons her opponents always draw have usually been based on substance; all of them have failed, so let's see if Clinton is more vulnerable on process.