DOVER, N.H. – The two Democratic presidential candidates who are skipping the Iowa caucuses — retired Gen. Wesley Clark (search) and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (search) — continued on the campaign trail in New Hampshire Tuesday, hoping their gamble pays off.
Skipping Iowa could hurt the two candidates. The winner in Iowa usually gets a three- to five-point bump in the polls on the way to the Granite State (search), also considered a critical primary state that could give high scorers momentum moving toward South Carolina.
So far, Howard Dean (search) leads in both states, but Clark seems to be getting the real benefit from skipping Iowa. The latest American Research Group tracking poll shows Dean losing two points in New Hampshire, but still leading with 34 percent of likely Democratic voters. Clark has gained a point to 20 percent. Sen. John Kerry (search) has gained a point to 11 percent. But Lieberman has lost a point, dropping to 9 percent. Eighteen percent of voters are still undecided.
"[Clark's] decision to concentrate in New Hampshire, I think, was very effective. Lieberman, on the other hand, I think made the same kind of calculus but I don't think his campaign has been anywhere near as effective as the Clark campaign has been," said Andy Smith, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire.
Click here to watch this fair and balanced report from Fox News' Alisyn Camerota.
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