Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:<\/p>\n
* With just six days remaining before the Iowa caucuses, the latest Los Angeles Times\/Bloomberg poll<\/a> finds that there’s still no obvious frontrunner. In Iowa, Hillary Clinton leads with 29%, followed by Barack Obama with 26%, and John Edwards with 25%. (Clinton’s lead gets larger when the poll narrows to likely caucus goers, but the margin of error goes up, too.) In New Hampshire, the LAT finds Obama inching ahead with 32%, followed by Clinton at 30%. Edwards a distant third with 18%.<\/p>\n * Among Republicans, the LAT\/Bloomberg poll<\/a> found that Mike Huckabee still leads in Iowa with 37%, followed by Mitt Romney with 23%. John McCain and Fred Thompson are tied for third with 11% each. In New Hampshire, Romney leads with 34%, followed by McCain with 21%. Giuliani is third with 14%.<\/p>\n * For even more poll news, Strategic Vision, a GOP pollster, also shows the Democratic race in Iowa to be very tight<\/a>. In this poll, Obama holds a very narrow lead with 30%, followed by Clinton at 29%, and Edwards at 28%.<\/p>\n * As for Republicans, Strategic Vision shows Huckabee in the lead, but by a smaller margin<\/a>. The former Arkansas governor has 29%, followed by Romney with 27%, Thompson with 15%, and McCain with 14%.<\/p>\n * An AP poll released late yesterday reminded us of just how much things can change<\/a> in the 11th hour: “Dig beneath the surface of the raucous Republican presidential race, and you will find even deeper turmoil: Four in 10 Republican voters have switched candidates in the past month alone, and nearly two-thirds say they may change their minds again.” * And there are more ads to come<\/a>: “Democrat Hillary Clinton has purchased two minutes of airtime on every Iowa television station to deliver her ‘closing argument’ on the eve of the Iowa Caucuses, her campaign announced Thursday. The campaign says the message will air on every 6 p.m. news broadcast across the Hawkeye State.”<\/p>\n * Obama is getting a hand in Iowa from retired Air Force Gen. Merrill A. McPeak<\/a>, who campaigned for Bob Dole in 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000. He told a crowd yesterday that Obama is “what the joint chiefs want to see — somebody they can rely and depend on.”<\/p>\n
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\n* Perhaps no one constituency in the country is as happy about the presidential race as sales directors at Iowa television stations. In 2004, Dem candidates broke a record by spending $9.1 million of TV ads in Iowa. This year, the Democratic field has spent $23.7 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n