Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) formally announced his plans to run for President and instantly finds himself near the top of the heap. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 401 Likely Democratic Primary Voters finds that 22% favor New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) while 21% prefer Obama. Obama has consistently been in second place in several Rasmussen Reports polls, but this is the first time he has been in a virtual tie with the former First Lady.

The telephone survey has a +/- 5 percentage point margin of sampling error and was conducted January 8-11, 2007.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards (D) remains in third place attracting 15% of the vote. Edwards announced his candidacy shortly before the New Year began. Former Vice President Al Gore (D) attracts 7% of the vote. The Democrats’ 2004 nominee, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, attracts 4% of the vote as does Delaware Senator Joe Biden (D). No other Democrat tops 2% at this time.

Obama leads Clinton among Democrats under 50, but trails among older Democrats. The next update of Democratic Primary Polling is scheduled for Monday, January 22.

Both Obama and Clinton fare well in most General Election match-ups against Republicans, but both trail GOP frontrunners John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. See a summary of how all the Democratic contenders match-up with various Republican opponents along with constantly updated favorability ratings.

Senator Joe Biden (D) has also announced plans to run for President in 2008, but he lags behind Republican frontrunners Rudy Giuliani (R) and John McCain (R) by double digits.

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