There is has been a lot of talk recently about the campaign of John Edwards slipping in the lead-off state of Iowa. An average of the latest round of polls in Iowa shows that Edwards is holding steady although he is down from the leads he held in the state early this year. However, what is clear is that Hillary Clinton has slipped in recent months in the Hawkeye state. Clinton has been leading in Iowa since late August when she shot ahead of Edwards. Now it may be Barack Obama's turn to lead. Obama has been steadily gaining momentum in Iowa but had not surpassed Clinton until a new ABC/Washington Post poll released today showed Obama leading the Democratic field with 30%, Obama's highest showing to date in Iowa. Clinton's numbers are down from a high of 33% in mid-October to just 26% in this most recent poll. A CBS/New York Times poll last week showed Clinton as low as 25%, with Edwards, and Obama both within 3% of her,and well within the polls statistical margin of error. If anything, these polls show Clinton slipping as she has in the national polls since her poor debate performance several weeks ago. The recent polls do not support the claim of an Edwards slide, and the campaign still believes that it is uniquely positioned and has some of the best organizational support in the state. On top of that, many pundits are arguing that it is Edwards and not Obama that may be distinguishing himself as the un-Hillary candidate. If this is the case, Iowa voters may decide to come back and support Edwards after all. Edwards has spent more time and energy in Iowa then any candidate, although both Clinton and Obama has outspent everyone else there. Edwards' influence should not be underscored as he continues to be strong among union workers and has picked up key endorsements in Iowa recently. He also boasts the feat of visiting all 99 Iowa counties. At the end of the day Iowa voters may reward his loyalty by breaking late for him as they did in 2004 when he went from single digits to a strong second place finish within a matter of weeks. It was a performance that landed Edwards the vice-presidential nod behind eventual nominee and Iowa caucus winner John Kerry. This time Edwards is hunting for a bigger prize but will have to defeat two candidates who have benefited from popular name recognition and a host of media-frenzied coverage. If he can defeat both Obama and Clinton, he can certainly stake his claim to this nomination, and make the argument that he is the candidate of change for the Democrats in 2008.

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