Former Senator John Edwards now leads Senator John McCain 46% to 39%. Edwards leads former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee 49% to 37%.

The new survey shows little movement in the hypothetical general-election race between Edwards and McCain. In early November, Edwards led McCain 47% to 38%. McCain has not managed better than 41% support since February, whereas Edwards has attracted at least 45% support all year long. McCain tends to perform more robustly against Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Until recently, Mike Huckabee barely registered on the political radar screen. In November of last year Edwards was able to dispatch the former Baptist minister by a 17-point margin. But early this month a suddenly ascendant Huckabee trailed Edwards by just four points, 40% to 44%. He also trailed Obama by just a few points and Clinton by one. In the new survey, though, with Edwards now leading Huckabee by twelve, the wave seems to have receded a bit.

Other recent polls show Edwards also has double-digit leads over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Senator Fred Thompson. But he's neck-and-neck with former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Huckabee is currently the Republican Primary polls in Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida. He is also currently enjoying a very modest lead nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

McCain is struggling in the polls but his campaign has recently been buoyed by a string of newspaper endorsements from the Des Moines Register, the Manchester Union Leader, and the Boston Globe. His campaign is counting on a good showing in New Hampshire, where he is currently in second place behind Mitt Romney.

Among the Democrats, Edwards has consistently placed third nationally but he is very competitive in Iowa. A win in that first state to vote is essential for any Edwards’ path to the nomination. In 2004 Edwards was a close second to John Kerry in Iowa's Democratic caucuses. That was enough to eventually earn him the Vice Presidential nomination.

Nationwide, Edwards is now viewed favorably by 47% of all voters. McCain is currently viewed favorably by 52% and Huckabee by 44%. In November of 2006 Huckabee's favorables were 17%, unfavorables 21%. As recently as September of this year, a third of voters still lacked a definite opinion of the governor. Now only 15% are Not Sure what to think of him.

Crosstabs and Historical Data available for Premium Members only.