Update on the February 5th delegate allocation: Who won more Super Tuesday delegates?

Most estimations of the Super Tuesday results have shown Obama getting a few more delegates out of February 5th. My Friday morning state-by-state breakdown showed Clinton ahead by 23 pledged delegates, with 70 still outstanding, mostly from Obama states.

A look at the websites of the state parties has allowed me to allocate the outstanding delegates in three states (check the full updated 02/05 delegate count here):

• In Alabama, the four remaining delegates spit equally 2-2, for a final breakdown of 27 Obama, 25 Clinton (an explanation of how this can be so close is provided below).
• In Tennessee, the four remaining delegates also split equally, for a final breakdown of 40-28.
• In New York, the final outstanding delegate went to Clinton, for a final breakdown of 139 to 91.

That gives Clinton a 822 to 798 lead with 61 delegates still to be attributed, 27 from Colorado, 20 from Georgia and 14 from Illinois. The exact district-by-district results are needed for those to be allocated and those numbers are not easily available. But this much is clear: Obama needs to win 43 of the remaining 61 delegates to emerge with a delegate lead out of February 5th, holding Clinton at 18. Now such a split is very much possible given that all three states have gone to Obama big. But that would mean a more than 2:1 distribution, which is by no mean certain considering Clinton has more than half of Obama's delegate in both Illinois and Georgia right now.

So Clinton looks like she might emerge with the biggest share of February 5th's pledged delegates, contrary to most media reports. This is due to California in particular. In his oft-cited analysis the night of Super Tuesday, NBC's Chuck Todd came out with a 4 delegate lead for Obama but that was by giving Clinton a 34 delegate lead out of the Golden State (and Todd said that was a generous estimate). It now looks like Clinton got 44 delegates more than Obama in California, which explains the possible reversal here. I will update the delegate count page with numbers from CO, IL and GA as they are available.

The delegate count will obviously be profoundly affected by tonight's results, and Obama will have a pledged delegate lead after tonight thanks to his triumphs in NE, WA and LA. But the question of who won more delegates on 02/05 remains interesting.

Meanwhile, it is interesting to look at the delegate allocation mechanisms a bit more closely, starting with Alabama. Obama won that state 56% to 42% but only has a 2 delegate lead, 27 to 25. And that certainly deserves an explanation. In my Super Tuesday preview of last Tuesday, I explained why the problem of even/odd districts could lead to some strange delegate math (refer to that page if you don't remember how the odd/even delegate math works). And despite losing the statewide vote by 14%, Clinton tied Obama among district-level delegates, 17 to 17:

• The district with the biggest African-American population (AL-07) split its 7 delegates 5-2. But two of the three other districts with large black populations (AL-01 and AL-02) were four delegate districts. So despite winning those comfortably, Obama was forced into a 2-2 tie in both (he would have had to get more than 62% to get a 3-1 split).
• The state's least black district (the 4th) went for Clinton overwhelmingly, as the racial polarization of Southern primaries kicked in. The 4th was a five delegate district, and that allowed Clinton to get a wide 4-1 lead. Since Obama was not able to open up a gap among the parts of the state that strongly voted for him, he had to settle for a 17-17 split.
• The statewide allocation went 10-8 for Obama.

There were many cases in which Obama benefited from the delegate allocation rules, especially in New York City. Clinton won the populous and strongly Democratic NY-14 and NY-15 (Rangel's district) with 57% and 55% respectively, but was forced to split delegates 3-3 in each district because she did not cross the 59% threshold.

Poll roller coaster continues, with SUSA showing Clinton holding firm with 12 hours to go

Whatever the results tomorrow, there will be a group of pollsters that will come out the clear losers of the run-up to Super Tuesday. On the one side we have groups like Zogby and Rasmussen which show Obama with higher-than-average results, on the other are Mason-Dixon, ARG and SUSA which are much much more reassuring to Clinton's chances. Depending on which institute has released the latest wave of polls, Clinton and Obama supporters are trading optimism for depression and vice-versa.

What can these discrepancies be attributed to? It is important to note that each institute is consistent in showing an Obama uptick or a Clinton uptick: Zogby has great Obama results in California but also in Missouri and New Jersey; and Mason-Dixon and SUSA have Clinton up higher than expected in most of their polls as well. This suggests that pollsters are using widely differing turnout models -- not only with the composition of the electorate but how many new voters show up and who these new voters are. Don't necessarily assume that new voters favor one candidate or the other, as both Iowa and New Hampshire Democrats voted in record numbers... to differing results. At this point there is no way of knowing which pollster we should trust, and we will have to wait for the results to come in tomorrow.

Meanwhile, here are the latest trends, mostly based on SUSA's massive release of polls. First up, of course, is the big prize of California, the state for which we could stay up very late tomorrow night:

• SUSA has Clinton up 53% to 41% in a week-end poll, which is a slight improvement for the NY Senator who led 49% to 38% last week. The key finding of the poll is that 34% of voters have already voted, and Clinton leads by 12% among those as well. The second crucial internal from the poll is that Latinos (27% of the electorate here) are giving 71% of their vote to Clinton.
• The Republican numbers are in line with other numbers and have a toss-up between McCain at 39% and Romney at 36%. A week ago, McCain had 36% and Romney had 25%, so this is a significant progression for Romney. Among those who have already voted (35%), Romney is down 5%.

I have long emphasized that early-voting was a big hurdle that Obama and Romney would have to overcome. And while there is no question that many of the people who voted Clinton early would have voted Hillary anyway, there is little doubt that some voters who are now locked in could have been susceptible to this late Obama momentum.

Next, we get three polls from Clinton and Obama's home states:

• In New York, SUSA shows Clinton staying ahead 56% to 38%, a bigger margin than in some other polls we have seen. Clinton really needs to get a massive delegate lead here to offset possible losses elsewhere. Worth noting is that Obama wins the male vote, in what is a 44% gender gap!
• In PPP's survey, Clinton has a similar lead, 51% to 32%.
• The GOP numbers have McCain up 56% to 23% in SUSA and 49% to 24% in PPP.


• In Illinois, it's Obama that is widely ahead in the SUSA poll 66% to 30%. Clinton only gets 17% of the white vote.
• Among Republicans, McCain does not tremble, 46% to 25% for Romney and 17% for Huck.

The Democratic numbers in these states are actually very important, as Illinois and New York will attribute a large numbers of delegates and both candidates want to get a lead in their home states to offset potential losses elsewhere. In New York, Clinton has a robust lead in all regions of the state, but Obama is also coming in consistently above 30% which should allow him to split delegates equally in all districts that allocate an even number of delegates! Clinton's Illinois position is a bit more precarious, as she is weak enough overall that she could let Obama get two extra delegates in even districts. And don't be surprised if Clinton gets shut out in some districts of Chicago.

Completing the Northeast picture, SUSA releases final numbers from New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Polls from all three have shown tight races in the past week but SUSA partly disagrees:

• In New Jersey, SUSA gives Clinton a reassuring 52% to 41% lead, in line with another poll released this morning that showed Clinton holding firm in the Garden State. The gender gap is 42%.
• In Massachusetts, SUSA has Clinton surviving 56% to 39% thanks to a 62% gender gap!! SUSA does show a 7% Obama progression in a week.
• In Connecticut, however, it's Obama, 48% to 46% (he led 48% to 44% a few days ago) in a race with a small gender gap, small age gap and small geographical differences.
  


• All those states show no suspense in the GOP race, and only MA is not winner-take-all and so the margin has to be watched. In NJ, it's McCain 54-25; in Connecticut, 52-30. And in Massachusetts, Romney is up 58-30.

In many ways, Clinton would rather lose Massachusetts than Connecticut. Losing the former could be attributed to Kennedy's influence, while Connecticut is in Clinton's own backyard. And with that we move to Missouri, a swing state in both parties in which SUSA once again is kind to the New York Senator:

• Clinton is up 54% to 43%, a noticeable progression since SUSA's poll released earlier this week in what SUSA calls "Last Minute Momentum to Clinton." It had been a while Hillary's camp hadn't read those words.
• The GOP 's Missouri primary might be the single most important contest in the Republican race, as the winner will get all of the state's 58 delegates. And as in many other polls, SUSA has it too close to call, with McCain at 33%, Huckabee 31% and Romney 28%.

Both Obama and Romney really want to win this state. A Clinton victory here would allow her to show she has appeal in the Midwest and that she can attract voters in a purple state that has been leaning red. And a McCain win would virtually leave Romney no path towards keeping the delegate count close.

And with that we move South, to Georgia and Alabama which are holding very tight contests as well. In Alabama, it is the Democratic race which is key now that Edwards's withdrawal has opened up a path for Clinton to win if the electorate in the South stays as racially polarized as in SC. We got three polls from AL:

• SUSA shows Obama up 49% to 47%, CPR has Clinton up 48% to 44% and Insider Advantage shows a toss-up, with Obama at 45% and Clinton at 44%.
• Among Republicans, AL has long been a McCain-Huckabee contest. SUSA has McCain stumbling a bit in the past few days and now up 37% to 35%, CPR has it at 36-30.


• In Georgia, PPP confirms Obama's lead 53% to 37%, but it is the GOP race that is more important in this state. PPP pits it at 31-29-27 (McCain-Romney-Huckabee), with Insider Advantage at 32 McCain-31 Romney-26 Huckabee.


• The latest updates from Tennessee and Oklahoma (PPP and SUSA) respectively confirm that Clinton has a wide lead there (56-34 and 54-27) but the GOP race is closer (34-28 for McCain-Huck in TN and 37-32 between them in Oklahoma).

As always, these numbers tell us first and foremost that the delegate count will probably stay close in the Dem race. And odds are that, if one candidate emerges with a significant delegate lead, it will be because of the margins in New York and Illinois rather than because of who won Missouri, California and Connecticut by a point of two.

• General election poll
  

A quick note about RAsmussen's latest general election numbers which are as over the place as the primary polls: McCain leads Clinton 47% to 39% but ties Obama at 44%. But the electability is reversed in Romney's matchups, as Clinton crushes him 50% to 37% and Obama is much closer, 44% to 41%. Rasmussen had only released Clinton-McCain and Romney-Obama yesterday and the rest today, so it appears that those two match-ups were tested in one sample, and that Clinton-Romney and McCain-Obama were tested in another. Simple sample differences would then explain why the first two are much more favorable to Democrats than the last two. I don't know, however, why such a sample split would be a good idea.

Obama passes Clinton in first national polls, but read them with caution

Get ready for a never-ending series of Superbowl metaphors over the next 48 hours, whether playing on come backs or on the underdog victory. Quinnipiac already threw one in in its poll release this morning: "Illinois Sen. Barack Obama could make it a fourth quarter surprise for Sen. Hillary Clinton..." Not that the analogy really works with yesterday's game since the Giants went in the fourth quarter with a lead. And with that, two new national polls released this morning have Obama passing Clinton for the first time nationally, an undoubtedly significant measure 24 hours from what has become a quasi-national primary.

• CNN/Opinon Research shows Obama ahead of Clinton 49% to 46%, a lead well within the margin of error but 49% is by far the highest Obama has ever gotten in a national poll.
• Among Republicans, McCain is hardly looking back, ahead 44% to 29% for Romney and 18% for Huckabee.


• A Cook Political Reports's survey shows Obama ahead 43% to 37%. McCain is ahead by 15% here again, 39% to 24% with Huckabee at 18%.

A note of caution is required about these national polls, as perfectly summarized by Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal. What these polls are measuring is not the vote of those who will go the polls on Tuesday, but the preference of Democrats nationwide. Now, not only will "only" 22 states vote on Tuesday, but many of them (like Colorado and Minnesota) will hold low turnout caucuses, making the national polls even more irrevelevant. Furthermore, yesterday's CBS poll shows that, while Obama and Clinton are tied at 41% nationally, Clinton leads 49% to 31% in February 5th states. That subsample has a large margin of error, but keep the possibility of such a discrepancy in mind.

That said, these national polls are useful to measure trendlines, and they are unmistakably a significant Obama momentum that is showing no sign of subsiding and that is threatening to overtake Clinton across the board. More than a traditional primary, this race is starting to look like the state of senatorial elections a week before Election Day, as a small uptick for one party tends to throw almost all the toss-up Senate races in one party's lap (that was true in 00, 02, 04 and 06). If CNN and Cook's numbers hold, we will be in for a big Obama night; but many pollsters are not being that optimistic just yet (starting with Mason-Dixon or even CBS's February 5th numbers) and a minuscule uptick by Clinton could allow her to sweep the Super Tuesday states. And given how dire her situation is said to be now, even the minimal survival scenario for her could come to be described as a victory (just as New Hampshire).

And with that let's turn to some state polls which are obviously the best indicator of where things are heading Tuesday, starting with a new Suffolk poll of Massachusetts:

• Suffolk shows Romney comfortably ahead in his home state, 50% to 37%. But remember that Massachusetts is not winner-take-all, and is one of the only states in the GOP side that awards its delegates proportionally. Margin will matter here.
• Among Democrats, it's a toss-up with Obama up 46% to 44%. That is a massive improvement for Obama who was trailing in this state as of 10 days ago, and it can obviously be attributed to Kennedy's endorsement.

We have had very few Massachusetts polls so it is hard to know exactly what the dynamic is here. The previous two polls had Clinton up by widely differing margins.

Next, we have the very important state of Georgia, which is one of the essential states Romney has to do well in:

• Strategic Vision shows Romney is trailing McCain by 2%, 31% to 29%, with Huckabee at 26%. Those two points mean the difference between no statewide delegates and 33 of them.
• Among Democrats, Obama confirms that Georgia is his strongest state with Illinois, and leads 49% to 27%.

And that leads us to the Tri-State area and three new polls that show some tight races:

• Clinton cannot afford to lose New Jersey, and a Zogby poll this morning had her tied at 43%. Now, Quinnipiac has her leading 48% to 43%. The Clinton camp should be reassured that they still have a lead, but consider how much Obama has caught up in less than two weeks, as the January 23rd poll had him down 49% to 32%.
• Among Republicans, Quinnipiac shows McCain poised to take all of the state's delegates, and leading 52% to 30% against Romney.


• Strategic Vision's New Jersey poll has McCain up by an even more massive 55% to 25% and it also shows Clinton holding on to a thin lead, 47% to 41%.


• And that leaves us with New York, where the Quinnipiac survey shows Clinton ahead 53% to 39%, whlie McCain is up 54% to 22%! More than any other decline, it is her inability to open up a big margin in her home state that will cost Clinton a significant number of delegates that she cannot afford to lose at this point.

One last note on bizarre external factor that could affect the Democratic race: Two Alabama counties voted last Wednesday because Election Day is Fat Tuesday. Their votes are sealed until tomorrow night. But this is one state where the clock was not ticking in Obama's favor. John Edwards only dropped out on Wednesday, and Alabama was one of the only state in which his departure clearly helped Clinton, since Edwards got nothing among the black vote and a significant portion of the white vote; and the vote in these counties before Edwards's withdrawal was announced on the ballot in these counties could potentially cost Hillary a few crucial votes if the contest is close.

A few more polls in tight races, as Obama and Clinton are likely to split delegates

We got a few more polls in the past few hours -- including one from Delaware, a state that hasn't been polled in ages:

• ARG shows the race here is in a statistical tie, with Clinton up 44% to 42%. This is a surprise, as the conventional wisdom holds the Northern Atlantic states to be strongly Clinton.
  
• Among Republicans, McCain is barely ahead of Romney, 41% to 35%. You might remember that Delaware was supposed to be one of Giuliani's four "momentum-proof" states (along with CT, NY and NJ) but that does not seem to be helping McCain jump to the sort of lead he has in the Tri-State area.
  

It looks like Delaware will be yet another state in which Obama and Clinton will split delegates rather equally, though the state's coastal position means that Obama could spin a win here as an upset. And ARG also shows a tight race in Missouri:

• Obama has taken the lead from Clinton, leading by a tight 44% to 42%. This contradicts this morning's Rasmussen poll but SUSA's survey released yesterday also had a toss-up with Clinton up 48% to 44%.
• The race is also very tight among Republicans, with Huckabee leading 31% to 29% for McCain and 27% for Romney.

Missouri is a state in which Edwards's withdrawal freed up a significant number of voters, as the former North Carolina Senator was strong in the Midwest. And it seems that most of that support has migrated to Obama. Missouri will be one of the most crucial states to watch for on Tuesday night... But whoever comes out on top is unlikely to get any kind of delegate advantage.

Meanwhile, Clinton got some good news of her own in two new New York polls that have her leading comfortable. Obama's rise in the Empire State was starting to get embarrassing for the state's Senator:

• Rasmussen shows Clinton is ahead 52% to 34% in her home state.
• Among Republicans, McCain is set to take all of the state's delegates, as he leads Romney 49% to 30%.

• Marist has a very similar result, with Clinton ahead 54% to 38%, the same margin to a month ago when Clinton was up 48% to 31%.
• Among Republicans, McCain is ahead by a massive 62% versus Romney 24%.
  

Rasmussen has Obama winning the black vote by 40% in New York, and that should allow him to pick up a significant number of delegates. Not only will it be very useful in getting a proportion of the statewide delegates, but Obama could fare very well in some districts -- especially in New York City -- that are predominantly African-American. Obama is also targeting Manhattan's Upper East Side, hoping to get Clinton into a draw there or even get an extra delegate based on Obama's advantage among upper-scale voters.

The Marist also has some very important internals. 76% of Obama's supporters are now "strong supporters" versus 58% a month ago. Clinton's percentage has held steady at 79%. There has been a very key process of solidification of Obama's support over the past month. If Obama had lost Iowa, his weaker supporters would have quickly abandoned him, pointing to the importance of his early win. Marist also has Clinton's New York City lead at a small 10%, 52% to 42%. That confirms that Obama will probably be able to tie her delegate number in many districts within the city.

Meanwhile, still no California polls... I'd be very grateful if someone could explain why we got multiple Illinois and New York surveys over the past 48 hours but nothing from California.

New series of polls has Obama gaining ground in key Super Tuesday battlegrounds

So much for my complaint this morning that there weren't enough Super Tuesday polls. A series of surveys released early this afternoon (2 from Connecticut, 2 from New Jersey, 1 from New York, Illinois and Alabama) have Obama gaining ground in some key battlegrounds. He is clearly moving upwards, the question now being whether he will have time to rise a few more points to upset Clinton across the board come Tuesday. Now imagine how suspenseful this week would have been if Romney had won in Florida three days ago, as both races would then be tight heading into Tuesday.

Overall, all these polls paint a very divided Democratic electorate, with both candidates consistent in what groups they are strongest in. Keep an eye on the stunning gender gap in particular, that is often close to 30 to 40%. Obama gets men, Clinton gets women. Most polls also have Clinton up among whites and Obama among blacks, with Clinton holding firm among Latinos.

First, Gallup's national tacking poll that has the race tightening for the 9th straight day. Now, Clinton's lead is down to 3%, 44% to 41%. Among Republicans, McCain is ahead 39% to 24% against Romney and 17% to Huckabee. Fox News also has a national poll out and it shows a bit better news for Clinton, who is still leading 47% to 37%. The national polls are obviously very instructive at this point, since February 5th is as close to a national primary day as the US has ever seen.

And with that we got an impressive series of state polls. First up, Alabama and a new SUSA poll:

• Among Democrats, Clinton and Obama are tied at 47%. Clinton has a massive lead among white voters (65% to 28%) and Obama among blacks (72% to 23%).
• Among Republicans, McCain is ahead with 40% to Hucakbee's 31% and Romney's 21%.

Alabama should be one of the most fascinating states to watch on Tuesday night. Edwards's withdrawal means that the white vote will not divide itself between Clinton and Obama and the racial polarization of the Southern states will greatly help Clinton here. The proportion of black voters in Alabama is inferior to that of Georgia and South Carolina so that Clinton now has a chance of pulling out a victory here. Among Republicans, the few Southern states that are voting on Tuesday are must-wins for Huckabee, so these numbers are bad news for him.

Next, we move to the Tri-State area where Obama is climbing fast. First, New Jersey from which we get two polls today:

• GQR has Obama closing the gap, now only behind 44% to 38%. Edwards supporters are moving to Barack, explaining his rise.


• SUSA has better news for Clinton who is still ahead 51% to 39%. That is due to a massive edge among women, whom she leads 60% to 31%; Obama is ahead 50% to 40% among men, creating a 39% gender gap!
• Among Republicans, McCain is up 48% to 25% for Romney and 9% for Huckabee.

Let's move next door to New York, where Clinton's lead is not as big as it once was:

• SUSA has Clinton ahead 54% to 38%. 3 weeks ago, Obama was trailing 56% to 29% and while he is far from victory that bump means many many extra delegates.
• Among the GOP, McCain is ahead 55% to 21% against Mitt Romney, seemingly benefiting from the support of former Rudy backers.

And that gets us to the tightest race of the region, Connecticut, where two polls paint two very different pictures:

• SUSA came out with a truly shocking poll that shows Obama ahead 48% to 44% amidst a 30% gender gap. This poll conforms to a Rasmussen survey from a few days ago that had the pair tied at 40%.
• Among Republicans, SUSA shows an unshakable McCain, up 53% to 31% on Romney.


• ARG is more generous to Clinton, showing her ahead 48% to 35%. It agrees in McCain's lead, 43% to 25%. ARG's track-record over the past month is not particularly successful, so keep that in mind.

These numbers are very significant. On the GOP side, all three of these states are winner-take-all. Formerly Giuliani strongholds, they are now assured to go for McCain which means that he will get all of the delegates that are awarded in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, 183 total! That will by itself guarantee that he will come out with a massive advantage over Romney who will be completely shut out.

Among Democrats, the Tri-State area is Clinton's base, her backyard. Any Obama victory in one of those 3 states would generate awful press for Clinton and would bode well for Obama. Furthermore, Clinton was hoping to bury Obama with a delegate lead out of these three states and it looks like that will not happen. New York especially has 281 delegates at stake, and if Obama is keeping it this close statewide it means he will also win some congressional districts and be very close in others, denying Clinton an advantage in delegate out of her home-state.

And that gets us to Obama's home state of Illinois, where a new poll from ARG shows Obama ahead 51% to 40% in his home-state. A Rasmussen poll this morning had him up at 60%, so both of today's ARG polls have Clinton higher than she is in other polls. There is no question that holding the race close here would give Clinton an unexpectedly high number of delegates. McCain is up 48% to 34% in the GOP race.

Finally, the last poll comes to us from one of the tightest battlegrounds we have on Super Tuesday, Missouri. SUSA came out with a poll that has both races very tight.

• Among Democrats, Clinton is up 48% to 44%, in a 40% gender gap (+22 among women, -18 among men). Another gap here is between registered Democrats (who go for Clinton by 11%) and independents (who prefer Obama by 20%).
• Among Republicans, McCain is ahead 34% to Romney's 30% and Huckabee's 28%, though he runs third among self-identified conservatives. This is the only state polled today that does not have McCain up big, for those keeping track of that.

Obama has long placed Missouri at the center of his Super Tuesday strategy, since he wants to make the argument that Clinton is having trouble winning away from the coasts.

The ground is shifting in Obama's favor, but does he have enough time?

With 6 days to go to Super Tuesday and with the GOP having gone a long way towards settling on a nominee last night, all eyes are now on the Democratic primary where the stakes of the next few days are much higher. Hillary Clinton is seeking to halt the seemingly unending stream of good news for Obama (South Carolina triumph, Kennedy endorsement) by putting forward her Florida win. And the campaign must be happy with the controversy over whether Obama snubbed on the floor of the Senate. Images of that "incident" are now being widely covered by the media, and every news cycle Clinton can own this week could make the difference come Super Tuesday.

The poll numbers indicate that the ground is shifting in Obama's favor and that he is getting closer to his rival. But with 6 days to go and the campaign now national, does Obama have enough time to make his case in the states he needs to do well in come Tuesday, for example in California? That is the huge question we are facing right now. And unfortunately for those of us who are accustomed to relying on polls to get some idea of where an election is heading, it will be very difficult to assess the state of the race in the next week. For one, most polls that are being released yesterday and today were taken late this week-end or on Monday, in other words in the immediate aftermath both of Obama's South Carolina victory and of Ted Kennedy's endorsement. Is that a lasting bounce like the one McCain got out of New Hampshire and South Carolina? Or will it subside in a few days like the one Obama got post-Iowa? It will be very difficult to assess this for a few more days.

Second, John Edwards's withdrawal dramatically alters the race, freeing 10% to 15% of the electorate who will have to choose a second choice. While some will probably stick with Edwards, this could significantly change the dynamnics between Obama and Clinton, and we will not have much indication of where the Edwards vote is going for a couple of days. And third, there is a debate tomorrow night that will probably be watched closely by many Super Tuesday voters, and its impact will likely be decisive. Don't forget that we have already had a couple of game-changing debates, whether October's Philadelphia debate that was the start of Clinton's troubles, the New Hampshire debate on January 5th that caused the female vote to rally around Hillary or the South Carolina debate of last week in which the image of Obama being tag-teamed by two white candidates could have a lot to do with what we saw on Saturday night.

With those words of caution, let's launch into today's polls as nearly all states are tightening right now in what is shaping up to be a fascinating run-up to Super Tuesday. First, Gallup's national poll has some fascinating national numbers in its tracking poll:

• In the latest poll that was in the field from Sunday to Tuesday, Barack Obama has risen to his highest percentage in yet (in the past 3 weeks) and is trailing Clinton by only 6%, 44% to 38%. Five days ago, it was 47% to 32% Clinton; two days ago, it was 44% to 33%. Yesterday, 44% to 34%. Clinton has been steadily declining for about a week now and this is a very worrying trend because a national lead is essential to her chances on Tuesday in what is essentially a national primary. Edwards gets 12% in the latest poll, double the margin between Obama and Clinton... The next few days could prove very instructive.

With that, let's move on to some state polls including in two states that Clinton should be winning very comfortably.

• In Connecticut, in Clinton's backyard, a Rasmussen poll shows Clinton and Obama tied at 40%. The poll was entirely conducted on Sunday, the day after Obama's SC victory, and it has John Edwards at 11%. Clinton can hardly afford to lose one of the states of the Tri-State Area, so she better pay special attention to Connecticut. No previous poll confirms that this primary is heading towards a toss-up, but it fits with the narrative of Obama's rise.
• Among the Republican winner-take-all primary, McCain is ahead big, 42% to 26% for Romney, as we would expect. Giuliani, still including in the poll, gets 12% in what was supposed to be one of his momentum-proof states.


• Next, we have a PPP poll that has Hillary only up by 12% against Obama, 45% to Obama's 33%, with Edwards at 10%. The numbers are strange given the high number of undecideds, particularly among white voters who break 44-29 for Clinton and black voters who go 44-32 for Obama (a lower proportion than we are used to seeing). Clinton leads 64% to 31% among Hispanics, in what is clearly a key constituency for her. Also keep in mind that Obama coming in relatively close to Clinton in New York could get him a big number of delegates from Clinton's very own home-state.


• And with that we move on to some better news for Clinton, a Tennessee poll that has her leading 43% to Obama's 32% with Edwards at 16%. Tennessee will be a disputed state come Tuesday but this is one contest where Edwards's withdrawal should benefit Clinton. He gets 2% among black voters, among whom Obama leads 60% to 20% but he ties Obama among whites (of which Clinton gets 50%).

• The most worrisome numbers yet come from California, where a tracking poll conducted on behalf of an anti-gambling campaign (which is polling an initiative that is also on the ballot and including primary questions) shows Obama only 5% behind Clinton (36-31) in a period ending on Sunday. On Sunday alone, Obama is up 3%, but the margin of error of such a small sample is obviously gigantic. The point remains that Obama is tightening the race, but Obama supporters should not get carried away yet: (1) SUSA's survey that I reported yesterday is probably more reliable was taken entirely on Sunday and has Clinton up 11%; (2) California is one of those states Obama could have an early-voting problem, as about a quarter of the electorate has probably already voted and gone for Clinton big. Can Obama really make up for it?
  

Finally, let's close this poll post with a reminder of why many Democrats would have much rather seen Romney win Florida than McCain. The latest general election numbers come to us from Rasmussen and they have good news for the GOP:

• John McCain defeats Hillary Clinton 48% to 40% and tops Obama 47% to 41%. That's a reversal from two weeks ago when both Obama and Clinton led McCain, albeit by a small margin.

Keep in mind that McCain has gotten a lot of good press lately with his rivals leaving him unscathed, which accounts for why he appears so strong at the moment. Rasmussen will start a daily tracking poll this week-end pitting McCain against both Democrats, so we will see if McCain's numbers go down a bit as the attention shifts back to the Democratic race.

Update: Add one more state in which Obama is rising fast, and this one is directly due to Kennedy's endorsement. A new Rasmussen poll from Massachusetts has Clinton only leading 43% to 37% in a state in which she used to be much stronger. There is no past Rasmussen poll to compare trendlines.

February 5th polls: How much will early-voting doom Obama and Romney?

It's easy to forget that Super Tuesday is in 8 days considering tomorrow's GOP primary could be more decisive than anything that can happen in a week. But it is time to look ahead at February 5th states, in particular California. Keep in mind that margins and winning areas will be particularly important in California as delegates are allocated according to complicated formulas. That said, Clinton and McCain hold very comfortable leads in all three polls released today:

• SUSA has McCain leading 37% to 25% for Romney, with Huckabee at 14% and Giuliani at 12%. Early-voters make up 30% of voters already and have McCain up by a similar margin.
• Among Democrats, it's Clinton up 49% to Obama's 38%. Early-voters make up 23% of the vote and 56% back Clinton.
  


• The LA Times poll has comparable numbers, with McCain leading 39% to 26% against Romney and Clinton up 49% to 32% against Obama, mostly because of her 2:1 lead among women. That's some big movement on the GOP side from two weeks ago where McCain got 20% and all four major candidates were within 4%. The Democratic side is stable. Most of the poll was conducted prior to South Carolina and Kennedy's endorsement, so it does not register any bounce Obama might have gotten out of this week-end.
  


• Finally, Gallup also looked at California and has McCain up 35% to 27% for Romney among registered voters and 36% to 31% among likely voters. Among Democrats, Clinton is up 47% to 35% among registered voters and 51% to 33% among likely voters. Gallup also tells us that 20% of the electorate has already voted and locked-in their preferences.

These patters of early-voting will be duplicated across the country in all states that allow for extensive absentee and early-voting programs. And they are likely to cause dramatic headaches for the Romney and Obama campaigns. Voters in states like California started voting weeks ago and about a quarter have already locked in their choice in weeks during which Clinton was way ahead and Romney was not really visible (given that he never really ran a visible national campaign and stayed low in the polls outside of IA, NH and SC until his Michigan win). That means that Romney and Obama will not only have to catch up to McCain and Clinton in the coming 8 days but make up the deficit of early-voting by having a healthy lead among those who vote on Election Day. And the difficulty of this exercise should give new ammunition to those who denounce early-voting for making the last weeks much less relevant even though most of the campaign happens then.

Turning to two other February 5th states, it is obvious that McCain and Clinton are going in with an advantage, and that Romney really needs a win tomorrow to stop McCain's march towards the nomination. In New York, first of all:

• Gallup shows that Giuliani has completely collapsed and trails McCain widely. The AZ Senator is up 40% to 21% to Giuliani among likely voters, while Romney is at 17%. But more than half of Republican voters say they might still change their mind, underscoring how important last minute decisions often are.
  
• Among Democrats, Clinton is crushing Obama 56% to 28% in her home-state, with Edwards at 11%.

And in Oklahoma, a SUSA poll:

• McCain is ahead with 37% followed by Huckabee at 28% and Romney at 19%. Giuliani gets 6%, tied with Paul. 42% of the electorate says they might still change their mind.
• Among Democrats, Clinton leads 44% to 27% against Edwards (who was a very very close second in 2004) with Obama at 19%.

With winner-take-all states like New York and New Jersey looking strong for McCain, Romney will have to find places to compete next week. California looks like it could be promising but that early-voting deficit will be hard to overcome. But in most of these states it is probable that the campaign hasn't fully engaged yet. And Romney should have an opening in places like this if he wins tomorrow. 65% of the electorate describes itself as conservative, and Romney has to blast his anti-McCain message out non-stop for a week in places he wants to be competitive. His recognition deficit has not yet been overcome, but he has the money to fight that.

Similarly, much of Obama's deficits in states like California and Oklahoma are only the reflection of his trailing nationally, thus among voters who don't fully pay attention or go for the better-known Clinton. But Obama's problem is naturally that Super Tuesday is national and Obama better hope that developments like Kennedy's endorsement give him a big enough national megaphone.

Morning polls: Romney leads in Florida (!), McCain leads in New York and Connecticut

When I see polls from states like New York or Connecticut, my first instinct is to dismiss them as completely irrelevant. After all, the deluge of primary polls from late-voting states throughout the fall taught us nothing useful about the state of the campaign. But it's hard to believe that New York surveys now are crucially important. We are two weeks from Super Tuesday and the dynamics of the race are getting set.

With that, we got a series of polls from states that are coming up in the next two weeks, starting with a stunning Rasmussen poll of Florida:

• Romney is ahead 25% to McCain's 20%, with Giuliani at 19% and Mike Huckabee at 13%, statistically tied with Thompson's 12%.

Don't forget that Florida is a closed primary, the first of any voting state where independents can't vote. That makes McCain's path to victory that much more complicated -- though it is still surprising to see Romney surging to a lead in the first post-South Carolina/Nevada poll.

A Romney win in Florida would scramble the field yet again a week from Super Tuesday -- and looking at the following polls from major February 5th states, it looks like McCain could roll to the nomination if he manages to win Florida, so his rivals better stop him here. A new poll from Connecticut, first was released today from the Univ. of CT:

• Among Republicans, McCain has a massive lead, 39% to 16% for Giuliani. Romney gets 11%, Huckabee 8%.
• Among Democrats, Clinton gets 41%, Obama 27% and Edwards 9%.

Even worse for Rudy Giuliani are these two polls from New York, his home-state:

• A Siena poll has McCain leading Giuliani 36% to 24%, with Romney at 10%.
• Among Dems, Clinton is holding on strong, 48% to 23%.

• Second, Marist released its own poll from NY that has McCain at 34%, ahead of Romney and Giuliani tied at 19%. Huckabee gets 15%. Giuliani is not even leading in New York City.
• Among Dems, Clinton leads 48% to 32%.

Needless to say that these numbers are atrocious for Giuliani. Remember that his campaign's argument was that Connecticut, New York and New Jersey were momentum-proof states that would give him assured victories -- and a delegate lead. For remember that all three are winner-take-all, so even if Rudy loses by one vote he gets no delegate at all. And it looks like a loss in Florida would definitely cause him to fall out at this point. Giuliani's fate is a clear warning sign to whoever wants to attempt to skip the first 4 voting states in the future. The front-runner in national polls three weeks ago, Giuliani now comes fourth or fifth regularly, having completely fallen out of the picture.

The Siena poll also has some general election numbers for the state of New York -- and they show that McCain could actually pick-up the state in the right circumstances:

• Clinton and Obama crush Rudy (56% to 34% and 53% to 35%). Clinton also handily beats McCain (52% to 39%) but McCain manages a statistical tie with Obama (44% to 42%).

That's right, the Empire State could perhaps be a battleground and McCain's superior electability conforms most indications we have been getting recently, including yesterday's SUSA surveys from VA and KS.