You have to feel a little sorry for the people of Iowa. While the waning days of any campaign produce an outpouring of annoying commercials, negativity, and in-your-face solicitations, this year those unsavory features of modern elections will take place in the midst of the holiday season. While most Americans are enjoying a quiet week between Christmas and New Year’s, Iowa voters will have a hard time avoiding an army of politicians and their advisors.

For the candidates, this will present an enormous challenge. How do you campaign tactfully during the season while still letting voters know all the reasons to vote against everybody else. However, it’s a challenge that can’t be ignored. On January 3, the Iowa caucuses launch 33 days of primaries and caucuses that will likely determine the nominees of the two major political parties. And, of course, what happens in those 33 days may be impacted by what happens first in Iowa.

Among Democrats, the challenge is intense because the race in Iowa is so close--Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards are all within a few points of each other in the latest Rasmussen Reports Iowa poll. In fact, among those who are certain to participate, the three candidates are tied at 26% each. Rasmussen Reports is polling again in both Iowa and new Hampshire this week to provide an update on the race.

Last week, Rasmussen Reports suggested that Iowa becomes very important for Democrats in one of two circumstances—a victory by Hillary Clinton or a double-digit loss for Clinton. That’s largely because Clinton leads in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida.

Rasmussen Reports conducts national telephone surveys on the Presidential race every night and releases updated data from our Presidential Tracking Poll by noon each day. Survey interviews were not conducted over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and daily updates will resume Tuesday, November 27.

For the seven days ending November 18, 2007, Hillary Clinton earns 42% of the vote. Barack Obama is second at 23% followed by John Edwards at 13%. Bill Richardson and Joe Biden attract 3%, Dennis Kucinich 2% and Chris Dodd 1%. Mike Gravel rounds down to 0% support while 12% of Likely Democratic Primary Voters are undecided (review history of weekly results).

The seven day results typically include interviews with more than 1,000 Likely Democratic Primary Voters. This includes both Democrats and those independents likely to vote in a Democratic Primary. In some state primaries, independent voters are allowed to participate in party primaries while in others they are excluded. The margin of sampling error for the weekly update is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Updates prior to July 16 were based upon four days of polling conducted the Monday through Thursday preceding release.

Rasmussen Reports continuously updates general election match-ups and other measures for all Republican and Democratic Presidential candidates.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.