Obama, McCain lead in late polls

By Rick Moran

South Carolina Democrats are going to the polls today and according to the latest Zogby-Rueters poll, Obama should win fairly comfortably:

Democrats in South Carolina	1/23-25	1/22-24	1/21-23	1/20-22
Obama	41%	38%	39%	43%
Clinton	26%	25%	24%	25%
Edwards	19%	21%	19%	15%
Gravel	<1%	<1%	<1%	<1%
Someone else	4%	5%	4%	4%
Not sure	10%	7%	13%	14%

I might add that Obama shows a lead of from 6-19 points in all the polls taken this last week. This is eerily similar to the lead up to New Hampshire where all the polls showed an easy Obama win. If lightening were to strike twice, it would destroy Obama's candidacy while sending the pollsters back to the drawing board with regards to this race.

Meanwhile in Florida, the Republican race is extremely tight. Most polls over the last 48 hours show Mitt Romney and John McCain slowly pulling ahead of the rest of the field. The two are in a virtual dead heat with Rudy Giuliani getting farther behind. Zogby's latest:

Republicans in Florida	1/23-25
McCain	31%
Romney	28%
Giuliani	15%
Huckabee	10%
Paul	5%
Someone else	2%
Not Sure	9%

Such a result would almost certainly mean that Rudy Giuliani's bid will end although he and Huckabee may stick it out through Super Tuesday the following week.