New Michigan Poll: Zogby "has remained tight over each of the three days"

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: McCain Clings to Slim Lead in Michigan

Utica, New York - Arizona Sen. John McCain holds a slim lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney heading into the Republican primary election in Michigan, a new Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll shows.

The survey shows McCain with a 27% to 24% edge over Romney, with Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee trailing with 15% support. McCain, fresh off a 37% to 32% victory in New Hampshire over Romney, is battling the former governor on what is essentially Romney’s home turf, having grown up in the Detroit suburbs while his father, George, was governor of the state in the early 1960s.

Republicans are the only game in town, as Democrats have been put on ice because of a battle they are waging with the Democratic National Committee over the accelerated timing of their election. The national party wanted the state to delay its vote until later and has threatened candidates with sanctions should they campaign there. Hillary Clitnon is the only major candidate with her name on tomorrow’s ballot Still, the GOP vote is open to all registered voters, as the state has a lenient primary voting rule that allows all comers to be allowed to take part, regardless of their partisan leanings.

Republicans – Michigan


1-11/13 2008

McCain - 27%

Romney - 24%

Huckabee - 15%

Paul - 8%

Giuliani - 6%

Thompson - 5%

Hunter- <1%

Someone else - 7%

Undecided - 9%


According to the poll:

-Romney holds a strong lead with Republican voters, with 31 percent support compared to McCain’s 22 percent and Huckabee’s 21 percent.

-McCain leads with independent voters over Romney, 33 percent to 24 percent.

-Romney has failed to garner much support from young voters - just 9 percent say they’d vote for him. About 26 percent of young voters said they’d vote for McCain.

-Statewide, women like McCain better than Romney, 30 percent to 26 percent. Among men, McCain gets 24 percent support, compared to Romney’s 26 percent.

The poll of 824 likely voters was conducted Sunday and Monday.

There is no official Democratic primary because of a spat between the state party and the Democratic National Committee.