WASHINGTON -- Howard Dean has taken a slight lead over Dick Gephardt in a poll of those likely to attend the Iowa Democratic caucuses, giving the former Vermont governor an advantage in the two states with the first presidential contests this January.
Dean was at 23 percent; Gephardt, a Missouri congressman, 17 percent; and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, 11 percent, in the Iowa poll conducted by Zogby International. A third, 32 percent, were undecided and all other candidates were in single digits.
In New Hampshire, which holds its primary a week after the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses, Dean holds a 12-point lead over Kerry. Dean has been drawing big crowds at rallies around the country, raising millions of dollars and aggressively buying TV ads in early states.