Huckabee surges, Edwards fades

[geek tragedy]

Source: Time Magazine

The latest still photo from the slow motion, inter-party electoral horse race known as Iowa is in — and it looks like John Edwards is losing steam on the Democratic side while Mike Huckabee is charging at the GOP frontrunners.

The University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll, released at 8 a.m. Monday morning, shows Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a heated battle on the Democratic side. Clinton leads the poll with 28.9% while Obama garnered 26.6%. John Edwards trails with 20%, a 6-point drop from the last Hawkeye poll in August.
************************

On the Republican side, the Hawkeye poll showed that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has widened his overall lead by 8 percentage points, to 36.2%. But Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, has gained ground despite spending just $1.7 million compared to Romney's $53.6 million. Huckabee is up from less than 2 % in the same poll in August to 12.8%, putting him in a statistical tie for second place with Rudy Giuliani who garnered 13.1%. Giuliani had spent $30.2 million as of September 30, according to Federal Election Commission reports.



Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1677221,00.html

---

Edwards has been trending downwards for several months now, so this isn't a huge shock. The real news is that Huckabee is on fire. The Republican base has been craving a legit social conservative, and he fits the bill.

[C_U_L8R]

1. Is Hucklenuts evolving?

[JPZenger]

2. Huckabee is Playing a Popularist Angle

In a radio interview with Huckabee, it was interesting to hear a Republican take a popularist angle. He was actually talking about the stress on blue collar workers, and how they are affected by unfair trade policies.

[Ninja Jordan]

14. populist*

[tabasco]

16. Also known as lies.

Republicans rely on people stupid enough to believe the lies even as the republicans pick their pockets.

[Flabbergasted]

18. According to a recent poll 60%+ of pubs are no longer supportive of our free trade policies.

[Clark2008]

20. So is Edwards.

:shrug:

[rodeodance]

3. Edwards is my Primary pick---this is so sad to see him go down

[saracat]

12. I rteally doubt he is. He has tons of union support that hasn't kicked in yet. The votes

have not been counted and Time is an RW rag.

[Lautremont]

4. It's that Chuck Norris endorsement.

The Mighty Beard plays well in such places as Iowa.

[abq e streeter]

5. John who?

I, like all real Americans, only know what I hear on the official network news, and from that wellspring of important information, I can assure you that there are, and always have been, only two people running for the Democratic nomination---Hillary and Obama. If there were others, don't you think our fine corporate mouthpieces, oops I mean independent press , would have let us know about them?

[geek tragedy]

8. People in Iowa know who all these people

are.

It's not like Edwards is an unknown quantity in Iowa.

[abq e streeter]

10. true-- I was commenting on national coverage of candidates not named Hillary or Barack

[RaRa]

6. I want to see some major upsets in the primaries

just to maybe put an end to all this polling. I'm sooo sick of my vote getting discounted before I've even made it!

[drm604]

7. You have that right.

Since Gore isn't running, Edwards is my man. I just wish the party and the media wouldn't try to decide this for us. :banghead:

[AnneD]

9. I agree with you.....

I am sick and tired of the media nominating my candidate. They have sabotaged every good DEM candidate for the last 8 years. They coronate our weakest candidate.

[MilesColtrane]

11. Gee...

The candidate with the most money is leading the polls. What a surprise.

Goddamn I'm tired of the stinky cesspool that has become American politics, and how it always churns out the weakest, most corporate friendly candidate.

[TwilightGardener]

13. Huckabee is performing a valuable service--knocking out a more viable

candidate (Romney) while in no danger of actually winning the nom himself. This is a picture of the Republican party shooting itself in the foot by its insistence on pro-life, gay-hating, Christian-right purity, that it will allow an ultimately weak, fatally flawed candidate like the Huck to gain at the expense of their overall-best-qualified candidate--Romney. In the end, the Christian Right will inadvertently end up getting Giuliani nominated by supporting Huckabee. It's fun to watch.

[Mz Pip]

19. I would love to see Mitwit

lose Iowa. Of all the top tiered Repug candidates I dislike Mitwit the most. His arrogance and mean spirited snark knows no bounds. He needs to be slapped down a whole bunch. He's trying to buy himself the White House.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Vinca]

15. Edwards has pretty much been "disappeared" by the MSM.

It reminds me of the 2004 general election when he was having huge numbers at his appearances as VP nominee and it never, ever made the news. Obama is disappeared pretty much, too, except for anything that might have to do with Hillary. MSM and their corporate masters are backing Clinton and they don't want to hear or report on anything else. As for Huckabee, what can you say about a guy who doesn't believe in evolution? It's frightening.

[IA_Seth]

21. But not from Iowa...

And since that is what this poll covers, thats all that really matters, right?

I'd argue the fact that Edwards is in any way, shape, or form being blacked out by the media - try being one of the 'bottom tier' supporters - but either way Edwards IS being covered in Iowa, and Iowans know who he is... and yet he fades.

This doesn't bode well for the Edwards camp. I still think he'll squeak a win/2nd place in Iowa, but if he isn't dominating here after the years he's spent here, I wonder how he'll do in the super-duper-overly-huge Tuesday contest on Feb-5th?

[zonkers]

17. I believe no polls.