In Poll, Huckabee Closes on Giuliani

Romney, in a speech in College Station, Tex., last week, addressed concerns about his Mormon faith with an eye toward reassuring evangelical Christians that he shares their values.

Last December, 39 percent of Republican evangelicals said they would be less likely to support a Mormon candidate. That has declined to 27 percent. But 17 percent of white evangelical Protestants in the new poll said there is "no chance" they would vote for a Mormon, not significantly different from the percentage saying so in February.

White evangelical Protestants back Huckabee by an 11-point margin over Giuliani. Evangelical support for Huckabee has tripled since late September, to 29 percent. Thirteen percent of white evangelicals said they would vote for Romney.

Huckabee's challenge is to pick up support more broadly. While 20 percent of conservatives back his candidacy, he draws only 8 percent from moderate and liberal Republicans.

The Democratic race has changed little nationally, according to the new poll, with Clinton now enjoying the support of 53 percent of likely Democratic voters to 23 percent for Obama. Edwards remains in third with 10 percent. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) registered in the low single digits.

There has been some softening among both Clinton and Obama supporters since last month: 49 percent of Clinton's supporters back her "strongly," down from 57 percent last month and under 50 percent for the first time in the campaign. Forty-one percent of Obama voters now back him "strongly," down from 50 percent last month.

Clinton's standing on attributes and issues also remains strong. She holds a 3 to 1 edge in being perceived as the strongest leader in the field and a nearly 6 to 1 advantage as the candidate with the best experience to be president. On the issues, she holds 2 to 1 or greater leads on four top issues: the economy, Iraq, health care and terrorism, advantages that have remained steady since late September.

Nationally, Democrats say they put little stock in talk show host Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Obama. More than eight in 10 said her support will not make a difference in their vote; 8 percent said it makes them more likely to vote for Obama, while 10 percent said it would make them less likely to support him. At the same time, among black women, two in 10 said they are more likely to support Obama because of Winfrey's recommendation. (African American women went for Clinton over Obama in the poll, 54 percent to 34 percent.)

Among Democrats, the issue of the economy and jobs has soared, with a quarter now calling it the election's single top concern, putting it on par with the war in Iraq among the top issues. Since September, Iraq has faded somewhat as the single most important issue. But there is little evidence of that in Iowa and New Hampshire, where Iraq and health care were the dominant issues among Democrats in Post-ABC News polls.

A broader set of issues drive GOP voters nationally and in the early states. The economy and Iraq get frequent mentions, but so, too, does the U.S. campaign against terrorism, which only 3 percent of Democrats call their most important voting issue. Overall, five issues, including immigration and health care, reach double digits as top one or two concerns among Republicans.

The poll was conducted by telephone Dec. 6 to 9 among a random sample of 1,136 adults. The results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. The sample of Republicans includes GOP-leaning independents and has an error margin of plus or minus five points; it is four points for the sample of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

Polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.