Obama-mania may be fading a bit. Barack Obama (D), the charismatic freshman Senator from Illinois remains in second place in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination. However, his support has slipped to 19% in the latest Rasmussen Reports Election 2008 poll. A week ago, Obama attracted support from 24% of Likely Democratic Primary Voters. The week before that, at the time Obama was making his interest in the race official, he had pulled to within a single point of the frontrunner.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) remains where she has been from the beginning of the race—on top—and her lead has grown back to double-digit status. The latest national telephone poll by Rasmussen Reports shows Clinton with 33% of the vote, 14 points more than Obama’s share.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards (D) remains in third place, but his support has fallen for the second straight week. Edwards now earns support from just 10% of those polled. That’s down two points from a week ago and five points over the past two weeks. Other than former Vice President Al Gore (D), who earns support from 8%, no other Democrat attracts significant support at this time. Gore has not indicated that he is running.

It is clearly very early in the nomination process and much could change between now and the time when votes are cast in Iowa and New Hampshire. However, given the front-loaded nature of the Primary schedule, perceptions of the candidates and their competitiveness could become very important in determining the nominees for Election 2008. If a candidate is unable to raise serious money and build a solid organization early, they may find themselves unable to compete in what is shaping up to be almost a national primary on February 5.

The Democrats’ 2004 nominee, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, announced last week that he will not be seeking the nomination this year. Kerry had earned just 2% support in the previous Rasmussen Reports poll.

While Obama is fading at the moment among Democrats, both he and John Edwards have gained ground in General Election match-ups against John McCain. Last week, for the first time ever, the two Democrats were leading the maverick Republican candidate. However, this turn of events probably has to do with McCain’s declining support rather than increased enthusiasm for the Democrats. McCain’s favorability ratings have dropped seven points since December.

Republican Rudy Giuliani continues to lead all Democrats in General Election polling. See a summary of how all the Democratic contenders match-up with various Republican opponents along with constantly updated favorability ratings.

An update on Republican Primary polling will be released tomorrow. In our last GOP update, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain were the clear frontrunners.