WASHINGTON – Howard Dean jumped out to his largest lead yet in New Hampshire and launched an attack on Dick Gephardt over Iraq in a new TV ad in closely contested Iowa.
Dean, the ex-Vermont governor, is favored by 44 percent of Democrats and Independents who plan to vote in the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 27, while second-place Sen. Kerry (D-Mass.) has the support of 23 percent, according to the Marist College poll released yesterday.
All the other candidates are in the single digits.
The 21-point edge for Dean is the largest lead yet in the politically important first Democratic primary, and it shows retired Gen. Wesley Clark to be fading at just 4 percent.
In Iowa, Dean bought a week’s worth of attack ads that hit Gephardt for supporting the Iraq war resolution in Congress.