Polling tide shifts once more to Obama, as Zogby's trackings show him with expanding leads

As the Republican race is getting slightly more exciting in the run-up to Super Tuesday, I will keep the Democratic and Republican numbers separate in analyzing a large number of new polls.

Democrats: With the release of a worrisome new wave of tracking polls, the tide in good poll news has switched back from Clinton to Obama, with Zogby going as far as suggest as Obama could have a "big night" if this momentum holds up (the Zogby polls were taken Friday to Sunday, making them the most up-to-date, though barely so). But it is worth noting that Mason-Dixon's numbers that were a bit more skeptical of a Clinton decline are supported by other surveys.

First, as always, comes California:

• Zogby shows Obama expanding his lead, now ahead 46% to 40% against Clinton. He was up 45% to 41% yesterday. And get this, Zogby says that Obama is leading Clinton 49% to 32% on Sunday polling alone (though these small samples have a huge margin of error and often show big fluctuations); but it is undeniable that Obama's surge is being felt.

• Obama's surge in California -- also underscored by Rasmussen poll hours this afternoon that showed him edging Clinton by a point -- is confirming by a Suffolk poll that has Obama up 40% to 39%.

• But an ARG survey has Clinton up 47% to 39%. The ARG poll has Clinton ahead 51% to 34% among registered Democrats but trailing 63% to 27% among independents (who only make up 14% of voters in this model).

It is very hard to get a sense of where California is heading, especially when you keep in mind that Obama actually needs to get his voters to the poll whereas Clinton can in all likelihood depend in some sort of lead among early-voters. Remember also that a California victory is mostly meant for spin, and that the real fight will be waged at the district level where Obama could do well by cleaning out the numerous Republican districts that have fewer Democratic voters.

Next comes the all important states of Missouri and New Jersey:

• Zogby has New Jersey staying in a tie, at 43%, the first survey that has ever shown Clinton not winning in the Garden State. Here again, remember that Zogby is being more optimistic for Obama than other recent polls, whether Mason Dixon or Mormouth University.

• In Missouri, Obama surges ahead. He was down 1% yesterday, today he is ahead 47% to 42%, underscoring the extent of Obama's last-minute rise.

We end with the South, in Georgia and Tennessee:

• In Georgia, Zogby shows Obama crushing Clinton 48% to 31%, which is actually a slight improvement for Clinton.
• Insider Advantage also polled Georgia and found Obama ahead 51% to 36%.


• In Tennessee, Insider Advantage has Clinton ahead 55% to 35%, a double-digit improvement by Obama in the matter of a few days but he still remains far.

Clinton cannot afford to lose New Jersey, and Missouri should rather be classified as a must-win state for Obama, albeit one in which he trailed for a long time so his surge here is impressive. Meanwhile, Georgia and Tennessee are among the least suspenseful of Super Tuesday, as there is polling consensus about their splitting between Hillary and Barack.

Republicans: Romney's come back is still as improbable, but there are some signs that are pointing to its possibility. First in California, where two new polls have Romney in the lead:

• Zogby has Romney expanding his California poll, now up 50% to 42% (it was 47-44 yesterday). Romney winning by a substantial margin could mean that he also gets most districts, ensuring he gets a lot more delegates than expected out of Super Tuesday.
• The ARG poll has Romney edging out McCain 33% to 32%, with Huckabee at 16%.

Essential to Romney's chances is McCain losing Missouri and its winner-take-all 58 delegates. At worse, Romney has to hope that Huckabee can topple McCain here to prevent the Arizona Senator from amassing too many delegates. The latest Zogby poll has McCain up with 35% to 27% for Huckabee and 24% for Romney. Other polls have the race closer.

Zogby also polled the unsuspenseful New York race (53% to 19% McCain) and New Jersey (52% to 26% McCain). Both being winner-take-all, even the proportions the candidates receive do not matter, and we can go straight to the fascinating Southern polls of Insider Advantage.

• Georgia will be one of the three keys to the GOP contest on Tuesday, along with MO and CA, and Insider Advantage shows a complete toss-up: 30% Romney, 29% McCain, 28% Huckabee. Even a win by one vote gets whoever gets on top 33 statewide winner-take-all delegates. In a poll released on the 31st, it was 35% McCain and 24% each for Huckabee and Romney.


• In Tennessee, meanwhile, McCain's massive lead a few days ago (33-25 Huckabee-18 Romney) has tightened as well, with McCain up 32% to 30% to Huckabee and 22% for Romney.

The Republican race still unexpectedly holds some suspense, due in large part to Romney's stunning ability to keep California in play. After the rallying of prominent figures to the McCain wagon and the aura of inevitability the campaign acquired, the mere fact that McCain still has to fight for this underscores how much many conservatives mistrust the Arizona Senator.

Obama rising, but Clinton has not sank just yet

Yesterday's series of polls showed Barack Obama gaining ground across the country in his effort to topple Clinton's national lead. But while Obama clearly has the momentum going into Super Tuesday, Clinton is still ahead in most polls taken in most states. In fact, the only states in which Obama has been shown to have in any survey have been Colorado (one poll had him up 2), Connecticut (one poll had him up 4), Georgia, Illinois and Alabama (though new polls today have Obama down).

Things are going well with for Obama, but Clinton has not sank just yet. Obama might be getting very close to Clinton, but he has not closed the gap entirely just yet. And while he does not need to win a majority of the states to stay alive since the Democratic primary is now a delegate race, he still needs to get some victories here and there. The question then is whether Obama will have enough time in the next three days to capitalize on his momentum. And a series of polls released today suggests Clinton is still able to hold firm.

Gallup's national tracking poll had Obama gaining for nine consecutive days, pulling within 3% yesterday, 44% to 41%. Today was the first day with the entire sample being taken after Edwards's withdrawal, but it is Clinton that benefited the most! As Edwards dropped from 8% to 4%, Clinton rose from 44% to 48%, now ahead of Obama by 7%! The last day Edwards was in the race, the numbers were 42-36-14. Edwards has lost 10% since then, Clinton has gained 6% and Obama 5%, so the theory that Obama is benefiting the most from Edwards's withdrawal is not supported by this survey. Among Republicans, McCain has shot up at 44%, ahead of Romney's 24%. McCain has moved up 12% since Giuliani's withdrawal.

Edwards's withdrawal is also hurting Obama in Alabama, where two new polls have Clinton in the lead. Alabama is shaping up to be one of the most interesting Super Tuesday states, and also one of the most racialy polarized as Clinton dominates among whites and Obama among blacks. Yesterday's SUSA poll had the race tied at 47%. Today:

• Rasmussen shows Clinton ahead 46% to 41%. She is helped by her decent showing among blacks, as she gets 30% -- much more than she did in South Carolina. But the electorate's racial polarization is revealed by this stunning internal: Only 51% of white voters have a favorable image of Obama, versus 82% of blacks!
• Among the GOP, Rasmussen shows McCain holding to a lead even in this Southern state, ahead of Mike Huckabee 38% to 30%, with Mit Romney at 20%.


• Insider Advantage came out with similar results in the Democratic race. Clinton is ahead 46% to 40%. Among Republicans, McCain is barely up 37% to 35% to Huckabee with Romney at 14%.

Obama was hoping to count on victories in Alabama and Georgia to complete a Southern strategy, which is what will make Alabama's results so interesting. Another Southern state in which Obama is trailing is Tennessee, where many polls have given a big lead to Clinton:

• A new Rasmussen survey shows Hillary is ahead 49% to 35%. The electorate is even more polarized in this state, and Obama is having trouble to break through because the African-American electorate is smaller here than in Georgia or South Carolina. Obama is ahead 71% to 12% among blacks, while Clinton is ahead 61% to 23% among whites.
• Rasmussen also polled the GOP contest and found a three-way contest between McCain's 32%, Romney's 29% and Huckabee's 23%.


• A second Tennessee poll was released today by WSMV-TV and shows a tighter race, 36% to 30% for Clinton. But there are a massive number of undecideds as the poll apparently did not push them very hard at all. The internals are also off, as Clinton barely leads among females but has a large lead among men. The same is true of the GOP race, where Huckabee has 24%, McCain 23% and Romney 18%.

Next we have a poll from Missouri, another key battleground state on Tuesday for both parties which Obama has put at the center of his strategy and where Romney is hoping to perhaps derail McCain.

• Yesterday's SUSA poll showed Clinton leading 48% to 44%. Today, a Rasmussen poll has Clinton further ahead, 47% to 38%. 11% of voters still support Edwards -- in a poll taken after his withdrawal. Just a week ago, Clinton was up 43% to 24%, with Edwards at 18%, confirming that Missouri could have been a strong Edwards state.
• Among Republicans, the race is as close as can be, with McCain up 32% to 29% to Huckabee and 28% for Romney.

Missouri offers a perfect example of what I mean when I ask whether Obama will have enough time to catch up. He has made up a lot of ground in the past week, including in Clinton strongholds like New Jersey and New York. But Clinton was so ahead as of a week ago that her loss of 10-15% is still leaving her in the lead.

This poll is also a perfect illustration for the fact that Romney and Huckabee are preventing each other from overtaking McCain by coalescing the conservative vote. Because of the division of the anti-McCain conservatives, McCain will probably be able to coast to wins in most states with no trouble.

Finally, a new Chicago Tribune poll confirms that Obama has no trouble holding his home-state and that McCain is comfortably ahead in blue states:

• McCain leads 43% to 20% for Romney, with Huckabee at 15%.
• Among Democrats, Clinton trails by a massive 55% to 24% -- much superior to Clinton's lead in New York.

Clinton's main objective in Illinois is to cross the 15% viability threshold statewide (which she should have no trouble doing) and in each of the 19 congressional districts which could be difficult for her in some areas of the state. Consider, however, that if Clinton can get even 38% in a four-delegate district, she will force an equal split of delegates. If she gets 20% in a three-delegate, she will get one of three of the allocated delegates -- in other words 33%, much more than her share of the vote. Obama will force similar splits in New York, and it is because of such rules that the Democratic contest could still be a toss-up come Wednesday morning.

Update: In response to a comment, these polls do not tell us anything about the debate's impact just yet. The Rasmussen polls, for example, were all conducted on Thursday so they don't incorporate any swing the debate might have produced. Furthermore, Obama is rising in those polls, even among those he is still trailing widely in. The Rasmussen polls of Alabama and Missouri that have Clinton ahead had her leading by a much larger margin just a week ago, and Obama has surged by at least 10% in both of them. The point is that his rise is for now not enough to overtake Clinton, though things could still change in the next three days... in either direction.

Primary polls: Key states tightening, including for Republicans

Yesterday afternoon alone, poll numbers from New York, California, Connecticut and Massachusetts showed Obama tightening the race in all these states. With three more polls this morning, we are starting to get a better idea of where things are heading on Tuesday:

• Rasmussen released a poll from California that has Clinton down to a 3% lead, stunning progress on Obama's part. Clinton is up 43% to 40%, with Edwards still getting 9%, way more than the margin between the two front-runners.
• Confirming that (1) Clinton could get the nomination on the strength of her Latino support and that (2) the polarization of the white vote only applies to the South, Clinton leads by 27% among Hispanics and trails by 3% among whites.


• Among Republicans, the California race looks tighter than expected, with McCain leading 32% to 28%.

The survey was taken in the hours following McCain's Florida win and before Giuliani's withdrawal (he gets 14%), so McCain should still get a bounce out of those events. But since the conventional wisdom holds that McCain will just blow Romney out of the water at this point, this has got to be heartwarming for Romney supporters. Also comforting is a new poll from Illinois, also from Rasmussen:

• McCain is up 34% to Romney's 26%, confirming that Romney is holding his own. But the survey was taken mostly prior to McCain's Florida win, so it's going to be very difficult for Romney to climb those 8%.

And with that we get a series of polls from Southern states that are voting in 5 days, confirming that Tennessee and Georgia aren't that suspensful on the Democratic side but will be key battlegrounds for Republicans:

• In Tennessee, Insider Advantager has McCain leading 33% to 25% for Huckabee at 18% for Mitt Romney.
• Among Democrats, Clinton has a massive 59% to 26% lead. Edwards was not included in the poll. This follows a poll released earlier this week that gives Clinton a clear lead as well.


• In Georgia, Insider Advantage shows Obama ahead 52% to 36%. John Edwards was not included here either.
• John McCain is winning this Southern state as well, 35% to 24% for Huckabee and Romney.


• PPP also has a Georgia survey out, and it confirms Obama's lead. In a survey taken after Edwards's withdrawal, Obama is ahead 51% to 41%. He wins 73% of the black vote, but trails 56% to 36% among whites.
• Among Republiacns, PPP contradicts Insider Advantage showing Romney at 32% with McCain at 31% and Huckabee at 24%.

Update: Gallup's latest national tracking poll numbers are out, and they show Obama continuing to gain ground. He is now trailing 43% to 39%, a stunning come back as Barack trailed by double-digits just three days ago. Edwards is now at 8% -- down from 12%, and Gallup does say that his support does not seem to be going to one candidate overwhelmingly. Giuliani's support is massively benefit McCain, on the other hand, who is now ahead 37% to 22% for Romney (it was 32% to 21% yesterday).