The other day I commented on Weasley Clark's dismal poll numbers in New Hampshire, but then a few days later a national poll came out with Clark still the leading Democrat. Over at the Washington Times, Donald Lambro explains it in Clark leads the pack but not in the right places:
Wesley Clark may be leading the Democratic presidential pack in the national polls, but he is far behind the front-runners in the crucial early state races that will heavily influence, if not decide, who will become the party's nominee.In particular, he is running fifth in both Iowa and New Hampshire. The trick for all the candidates is to survive the early primaries and right now Clark is ill-positioned to do so despite his national poll numbers.
With behind-the-scenes support from former President Clinton, the retired four-star general from Little Rock, Ark., who was supreme commander of NATO forces, catapulted into the lead in the national polls right after he announced his candidacy last month and has held that position ever since. Three weeks after he entered the contest, he is still drawing 22 percent in the national Gallup Poll — outdistancing his four top rivals who have been campaigning for more than a year.
But national polls are largely irrelevant in the state-by-state delegate-selection contests that usually turn on county-by-county, street-level politics that narrowly appeal to each state's local, cultural and political interests.
