Race for Presidential Nomination Tightens As First Primaries Near

Barack Obama has edged ahead of Hillary Clinton in the latest Democratic poll from New Hampshire, while John McCain has pulled within three points of front runner Mitt Romney in the contest for the Republican nomination, according to polls published yesterday.

With just 10 days to go before the first electoral test of the candidates, the Iowa caucus on January 3, the poll shows both races tightening. The New Hampshire primary follows five days later.

The latest poll in New Hampshire, conducted by the Boston Globe, shows Obama with 30%, Clinton on 28%, and John Edwards on 14%. A month ago, Clinton led Obama by 35% to 21%.

There was a similar shift in the Republican race, with Mitt Romney's 32% to 17% lead over McCain being reduced to a three-point margin. Romney polled 28% to McCain's 25%. Rudy Giuliani was on 14% with Mike Huckabee on 10%.

McCain won the New Hampshire primary in 2000 before losing the nomination to George Bush. This year his campaign had appeared moribund, with staff laid off and finances dwindling, but his poll numbers have risen in recent weeks as the primaries have neared and casualties in Iraq have fallen. McCain was a supporter of Bush's "surge" plan in Iraq.

There was a further blow for Romney when the New Hampshire newspaper the Concord Monitor published an anti-endorsement under the headline "Romney should not be the next president".