Franklin Pierce University/WBZ poll in NH: Hillary - 36, Obama - 18, Edwards - 12, Richardson - 10

[rinsd]

By - Beth LaMontagne
(September 18, 2007)

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., maintains a commanding lead over her Democratic rivals in a recent Franklin Pierce University/WBZ poll of New Hampshire voters. The poll, released on Monday, also shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney continuing to widen his modest lead over former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

While the candidates' positions in the polls have changed little from the beginning of the campaign, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has increased his support of likely Democratic primary voters from 3 percent in March to 10 percent today. The poll indicates that support for former Vice President Al Gore's is dropping off, as it seems less likely he will enter the race and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., has yet to materialize much support since announcing his bid for presidency earlier this month.

Clinton is holding steady, with 36 percent saying they would choose the senator if the primary were held today. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., would receive 18 percent of the vote, and former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., would get 12 percent. Although Obama did see a 2 percent bump since the last Franklin Pierce University/WBZ poll in June, he has yet to regain the support he had in March, when 25 percent of likely Democratic voters said he was their candidate.

Dean Spiliotes, a New Hampshire political analyst, said the big question on pundits' minds is why Obama has not managed to stay neck-and-neck with Clinton. He speculated her success was due to her strong summer campaigning in the state or that the media had been playing up her inevitability as the nominee. Spiliotes disagreed with other pundits who criticize Obama of shying away from discussing policy specifics, and said he thought it was an unfair assessment. Instead, Obama is not winning over voters, Spiliotes said, because of a factor the campaign views as his greatest strength.

More at the link - http://campaignsandelections.com/nh/articles/index.cfm?id=671