Opinion: Rash of new New Hampshire polls

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Courtesy of RealClearPolitics.com, here’s a look at a rash of polls in New Hampshire following the outcomes in the Iowa caucuses.

DEMOCRATIC RACE (Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards)

CNN/WMUR/University of New Hampshire: Obama, 33%; Clinton, 33%; Edwards, 20%.

American Research Group: Obama, 38%; Clinton, 26%; Edwards, 20%.

Concord Monitor: Obama, 34%; Clinton, 33%; Edwards, 23%.

Rasmussen: Obama, 37%; Clinton, 27%; Edwards, 19%.

Of note: The Clinton camp, understandably, focused on the two surveys that showed the race a draw, spotlighting them in a release sent out with the headline, ‘Where is the Bounce?’

The missive, penned by Clinton chief strategist Mark Penn, asserts that the two polls demonstrate that Obama received no boost from his solid Iowa win. He choose to ignore, of course, the two that show otherwise. Here’s the RealClearPolitics link that details the trend line for all these surveys and others in the Democratic contest.

REPUBLICAN RACE (John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, Ron Paul)

CNN/WMUR/UNH: McCain, 33%; Romney, 27%; Huckabee, 11%; Giuliani, 14%; Paul, 9%.

American Research Group: McCain, 39%; Romney, 25%; Huckabee, 14%; Giuliani, 7%; Paul, 6%.

Concord Monitor: McCain, 35%; Romney, 29%; Huckabee, 13%; Giuliani, 8%; Paul, 7%.

Rasmussen: McCain, 31%: Romney, 26%; Huckabee, 11%; Giuliani, 8; Paul, 14%.

Of note: No campaign bothered to point this out in a release, but it’s clear there’s no Huckabee bounce in New Hampshire, following his Iowa triumph. But he wasn’t expecting one -- South Carolina is his next target.

Romney clearly was hurt by the Iowa results, but he’s not out of it yet. And the battle between Giuliani and Paul at the back of the pack certainly bears watching.

Here’s the RealClearPolitics link for the GOP trendline.

-- Don Frederick