National Review gets rocked:
The new poll from the Des Moines Register shows some dramatic changes in the Republican race in Iowa. The headline is that Mike Huckabee, who was 17 points behind Mitt Romney in the paper’s October poll, now leads Romney by five points. The second headline is that Fred Thompson, who was in second place (behind Romney) in October, is now in fourth place, with half the level of support he had last month. The third headline is that Ron Paul has moved up to a level just behind Thompson and equal with John McCain.
29 Huckabee
24 Romney
13 Giuliani
09 Thompson
07 Paul
07 McCain
06 Tancredo
That poll has got to make Joe Carter happy, anyhow. I’m interested to see who will drop out first, Thompson or Romney. If Romney doesn’t win either Iowa or New Hampshire, he’s done. Thompson is already done, but who knows when he’ll notice. Paul will stick around regardless, and Huckabee’s apparent strength tends to demonstrate the complete incompetence of those so-called analysts who think that social conservatives should be ignored.
But it’s early yet. I don’t put much faith in modern polling and I find it very, very hard to believe that Obama can actually beat Hillary in Iowa. We’ll find out soon enough.