Severalrecentpolls show ObamaleadingHillary Clinton by a double-digit margin less than a week after the one-time front runner came in a disappointing thirdinthe Iowacaucuses.
More important, he has a double-digit lead in New Hampshire over John Kerry, the one-time front-runner, and is in a close race with Mr Gephardt in Iowa.
State polls seem to have turned Mr Bush's way: according to new numbers from Gallup, for instance, he now has double-digit leads in both Missouri and Ohio, which he won last time, and a tiny one-point lead in Pennsylvania, which Al Gore won.