Race Wide Open 9 Days Before Iowa Caucuses

With only 9 days to go until the Iowa Caucuses, polls are showing a wide open race in both Parties.

Although Mike Huckabee has opened a fairly large lead in the GOP race over 2nd place contender Mitt Romney and 3rd place contender Fred Thompson, any of the three are within striking distance and could pull out a last-minute surge to put them over the top.

On the Democratic side Hillary Clinton maintains a very small lead over 2nd place contender Barack Obama. In fact, the two are locked into a statistical tie. John Edwards is running a close third. Here again, any of the top three could easily win.

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, the setting of the first primary, Mitt Romney holds on to a very slight lead against a surging John McCain, who is only two points behind--once again a statistical dead-heat.

Hillary Clinton maintains a slight lead in New Hampshire, although some polls show Barack Obama in the lead. Once again John Edwards is running a close third.

We will not attempt any predictions at this point due to the highly fluid nature of the race, except for two. It is beginning to appear that Barack Obama will beat Hillary in Iowa. Momentum is on his side.

In like manner, it looks as if John McCain will pull off the miracle of his political career and win New Hampshire, due to the very same factor as Obama in Iowa--momentum.

HOT TIP: Don't be surprised to see John McCain defy all the predictions of his demise and win not one but several primaries. We are not saying he will win the nomination, but as it becomes more apparent that conservatives are still on the fence, they may well break for McCain at the last minute due to his war hero status, his experience, and his perceived ability to work with political opponents to reach compromise.

We have our problems with McCain, as we have stated repeatedly. But he is fairly strong on issues such as gun rights, foreign policy, the war on terror, abortion, and healthcare.

Nonetheless, we still see Fred Thompson as the strongest alternative to Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and Rudy Giuliani. Although he is in 3rd place in Iowa, he is still within easy striking distance of the win.