http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/ 08/21/iraq-vetcongressman-endorses-obama /

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - When Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention here yesterday, she told the story of how she met a "bright, young captain" in the 82nd Airborne Division named Patrick Murphy in 2003 during her first trip to Baghdad.
Last year, Mr. Murphy was elected as a Congressman from Pennsylvania. This spring, he joined Senator Clinton in sponsoring legislation to create a 21st Century GI Bill of Rights.
Today, Mr. Murphy is announcing his support for Senator Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential race. The endorsement, which has been in the works for a while, comes one hour before Mr. Obama speaks to hundreds of war veterans gathered here.
The well-timed announcement will be used as a reminder - which Mr. Obama hopes will work - that one can be supportive of military veterans and still be opposed to the war.
Mr. Murphy, 33, is the only member of Congress who served in combat in Iraq. He has played a prominent role in this year's Congressional debate over the war, delivering the closing argument over whether to set a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq.
In an emotional speech in March, he implored lawmakers to consider the 19 paratroopers from his command who died during his time in Iraq in 2003.
"'To those on the other side of the aisle who are opposed, I want to ask you the same questions that my gunner asked me when I was leading a convoy up and down Ambush Alley one day," Mr. Murphy said. "He said, 'Sir, what are we doing over here? What's our mission? When are these Iraqis going to come off the sidelines and fight for their own country?'"

Tom Bevan posted NH and Iowa pol results and summarized them as:

"Obama, Edwards and Vilsack beat every Republican. Hillary loses to every Republican but Romney. Romney loses to every Democrat. McCain runs slightly better than Giuliani matching up against most of the Dem field.
This poll looks like Hillary Clinton's worst nightmare in that it clearly reinforces the biggest knock against her which is that she can't win the general election."

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politic s
December 24, 2006

Details as provided by Tom Bevan:
On the heels of the new poll in Iowa earlier this week showing Barack Obama tied with John Edwards atop the Dem field and Hillary plummeting to fourth place with 10%, Research 2000 has another 2008 poll out this morning for New Hampshire, conducted for the Concord Monitor from December 18 through December 20, 2006.
On the Dem side, Obama has leapt into a statistical dead heat with Hillary. For the GOP, Giuliani and McCain are neck and neck:
Democrats
Hillary Clinton 22%
Barack Obama 21%
John Edwards 16%
Al Gore 10%
John Kerry 7%
Wesley Clark 4%
Dennis Kucinich 4%
Joe Biden 2%
Tom Vilsack 2%
Evan Bayh2%
Bill Richardson 2%
Undecided 8%
Republicans
Rudy Giuliani 26%
John McCain 25%
Mitt Romney 10%
Newt Gingrich 8%
Condi Rice 6%
George Pataki 3%
Jeb Bush 1%
George Allen 1%
Sam Brownback 1%
Rick Santorum 1%
Duncan Hunter 0%
Undecided 18%
At first blush the horserace numbers don't look too terrible for Hillary - and certainly much better than they did in Iowa. I suppose Hillary's numbers could have been worse, especially if you remember the Boston Herald story from early August reporting on the animosity New Hampshire Dems had toward Hillary,calling her names like a "shrew" and an "evil, power-mad witch."
But, as in Iowa, the real problem for Clinton in the New Hampshire poll is in the hypothetical head to head matchups. Here they are:
Obama 47, McCain 43
Obama 46, Giuliani 39
Obama 48, Romney 29
Edwards 44, McCain 44
Edwards 41, Giuliani 40
Edwards 46, Romney 30
Giuliani 42, Clinton 38
Giuliani 39, Kerry 37
Giuliani 40, Gore 37
McCain 46, Clinton 43
McCain 45, Kerry 40
McCain 46, Gore 39
Clinton 45, Romney 31
Kerry 40, Romney 32
Gore 38, Romney 32
Just like in Iowa, Hillary loses to Rudy and McCain but beats Romney. And just like in Iowa, Obama beats them all. Edwards doesn't run as strong in New Hampshire as in Iowa - no surprise there - but he still manages a dead heat against McCain and Giuliani and handily beats Romney. So even though Hillary is clinging to a lead at the top of the field, she's once again giving off the "unelectable" vibe in comparison to her two most serious primary challengers.

December 22, 2006
Obama Tied For Lead in Iowa
Posted by TOM BEVAN |
Check out the results of the new Iowa poll, conducted by Research 2000 for KCCI-TV from December 18 through December 20:
Democrats
John Edwards 22%
Barack Obama 22%
Tom Vilsack 12%
Hillary Clinton 10%
Al Gore 7%
John Kerry 5%
Wesley Clark 4%
Dennis Kucinich 4%
Joe Biden 1%
Evan Bayh 1%
Bill Richardson 1%
Undecided 11%
Republicans
John McCain 27%
Rudy Giuliani 26%
Mitt Romney 9%
Newt Gingrich 7%
Condi Rice 4%
George Pataki 1%
Jeb Bush 1%
George Allen 1%
Sam Brownback 1%
Rick Santorum 1%
Duncan Hunter 0%
Undecided 22%
Hypothetical matchups among all survey respondents are as follows:
Obama 42, McCain 39
Obama 43, Giuliani 38
Obama 43, Romney 28
Edwards 42, McCain 39
Edwards 42, Giuliani 38
Edwards 41, Romney 29
McCain 43, Clinton 37
McCain 43, Kerry 38
McCain 41, Gore 39
Giuliani 39, Clinton 35
Giuliani 38, Kerry 34
Giuliani 36, Gore 34
Vilsack 41, McCain 35
Vilsack 42, Giuliani 35
Vilsack 45, Romney 28
Clinton 40, Romney 30
Kerry 33, Romney 30
Gore 34, Romney 28