KEY POINTS:
DES MOINES, Iowa - Democrat Hillary Clinton holds a narrow lead in Iowa four days before the state opens the presidential nominating race.
Meanwhile, in the Republican race Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are virtually tied, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released overnight.
Clinton, a New York senator,
led Senator Barack Obama of Illinois 31 per cent to 27 per cent, with former North Carolina Senator John Edwards a close third at 24 per cent and no other Democratic contender registering in double-digits.
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, held a statistically insignificant one-point edge over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, 29 per cent to 28 per cent. Arizona Senator John McCain was a distant third with 11 per cent.
Three Republicans, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, registered 8 per cent in the poll.
The poll found about 6 per cent of likely caucus-goers in each party are uncertain of their choice in Thursday's contest, the first big test in the state-by-state battle to choose candidates for the November presidential election.
"We have two very tight races that are too close to call," said pollster John Zogby. "But there is a lot of potential for things to change here."
The poll of 934 likely Democratic caucus-goers and 867 likely Republican caucus-goers was taken Wednesday through Saturday and has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points for the Democrats and 3.4 percentage points for the Republicans.
Clinton, Obama and Edwards have battled for the Democratic lead for months in Iowa, where a win can generate huge momentum for later contests. The new poll showed Clinton, who would be the first woman in the White House, narrowly leading Obama among women voters and ahead among older voters, who are the most likely to participate.
Obama, who would be the first black president, held a big lead among younger voters, whose participation is more unpredictable.
Delaware Democratic Senator Joseph Biden and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson each earned 5 per cent, with Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd at 1 per cent and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich below 1 per cent.
The poll found Clinton's supporters were the most dedicated, with 76 per cent saying their support was "very" strong, compared to 65 per cent for Edwards and 56 per cent for Obama.
Under Iowa's arcane caucus rules, candidates must receive support from 15 per cent of the participants in each precinct to be viable. If not, their supporters can switch to other candidates.
Edwards was the most popular second choice with 30 per cent, while Obama had 25 per cent and Clinton only 12 per cent.
Among Republicans, where Huckabee's recent surge to the top of many Iowa polls has been fueled by support among religious conservatives, the former Baptist preacher led among those who said they were "very" conservative, and born-again Christians.
About half of Romney and Huckabee's supporters described their backing as "very" strong.
The race for third among Republicans is wide open between McCain, Thompson, Giuliani and Paul, all of whom could take some solace from a strong finish and hope to generate momentum for the next contests.
McCain and Giuliani have barely competed in Iowa, preferring to focus on New Hampshire and a big round of contests on February 5, respectively. Thompson largely ignored the state until launching a final push here in the week before Christmas.
The rolling three-day tracking poll will continue each day through the Iowa caucus on Thursday.
- REUTERS