John Edwards Rising in Polls in Iowa

Edwards Rising in Polls in Iowa: Addresses Caucus-goers in Davenport

John Edwards, accompanied by wife Elizabeth and daughter Cate, came to Davenport, Iowa's Putnam Museum and IMAX Theater on Friday, December 28^th to rally caucus troops and, hopefully, sway a few more undecided Iowa caucus voters to cast their votes for him. Using Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" (appropriately) as his closing campaign song, Edwards had some good news to share with some 200 likely Iowa voters.

A poll taken by the Lee Enterprises newspapers (publishers of the Davenport, Iowa, QuadCity Times, among other papers), released to supporters at 8:10 p.m. on the 28^th, with six days left until the January 3^rd Iowa caucuses, showed Edwards moving into the lead, jumping 5 points in 2 weeks. Edwards and Obama--- (who was appearing at nearly the same time across town in Davenport's River Center)---hold 29% tied leads in the race, with Hillary Clinton at 28%, and 19% of Democratic caucus-goers still undecided.

Two other polls appearing on the NPR News Blog are also good news for Edwards. One poll conducted of 600 likely Iowa voters by Strategic Vision, on December 26 and 27, gave Obama the lead with 30%, Clinton hanging in with 29% and Edwards 28%. A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll showed Clinton at 29%, Obama and Edwards both at 26%. The Big News, however, was whom voters would pick for their second choice. According to the NPR polls, Edwards would pick up Biden and Richardson people and was "second choice" for 23% of caucus-goers. Dodd supporters were split between Edwards and Clinton. [In the Iowa caucus process, if a candidate's supporters do not have 15% of the vote, those voters must join another standard-bearer's group, and it appears that Edwards is in the best position to benefit.]

These "dead heat on a merry-go-round" caucus polls were the backdrop for the discussion of the issues that Edwards has been addressing in repeated town hall meetings for the past year or more. A new twist was added to Edwards' rally remarks, however, by the December 27th assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan after an election rally in Rowalpindi.

AC Content Producer Connie Wilson poses with Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards in Davenport, Iowa, on December 28th.

Credit: Connie Wilson

Copyright: Connie Wilson