Romney, Clinton lead in latest Iowa poll

Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Romney, Clinton lead in latest Iowa poll

Mitt Romney continues to lead in Iowa, where he has invested the most time and money of the Republican presidential hopefuls, according to a new poll.

But the support for the leading candidates is not firm, with about 60 percent of backers for each saying they could change their minds before the caucus, which Iowa Republicans on Tuesday scheduled for Jan. 3.

Romney had support from 25 percent of likely caucus-goers, compared to 19 percent for Fred Thompson, 18 percent for Mike Huckabee, 13 percent for Rudy Giuliani, and 6 percent for John McCain, according to the Rasmussen Reports survey released today.

Huckabee leads among evangelical Christians, while Romney leads among other religious groups, the poll found.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton led with 33 percent, to 22 percent for John Edwards, 21 percent for Barack Obama, and 7 percent for Bill Richardson. Joe Biden, who said in Boston on Tuesday that he would need to finish at least fourth to stay in the race, is in fifth with 4 percent.

The poll was conducted Oct. 10-14 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points among 650 Republicans and plus or minus 3 percentage points among 1,007 Democrats, Rasmussen said.
Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor at 01:15 PM