Manchester (US): Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has obliterated Hillary Clinton's lead in national polls of Democratic voters, and maintains a solid edge in New Hampshire, polls has said.

For the first time, Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee has vaulted to pole position nationally among Republican voters, a USA Today/Gallup poll said.

It said that senators Obama and Clinton each drew 33 per cent support from Democrats, compared to an 18-point lead for the former first lady in mid-December, well before Obama won last Thursday's Democratic race in Iowa.

All other polls have given Clinton a commanding lead among Democrats at the national level. But after his stunning success in Iowa, Obama is riding a wave that could see him to a second win in today's New Hampshire primary.

The latest CNN/WMUR tracking poll showed Obama leading Clinton by nine points in the Granite State -- 39 per cent to 30 -- down from 10 points on Sunday.

Another new poll by CBS News gave Obama 35 per cent support among likely Democratic primary voters, against 28 per cent for Clinton. Obama enjoyed a 41-24 lead among independents, who comprise a crucial bloc in New Hampshire.

"By winning the Iowa caucuses, Obama appears to have put questions about his electability to rest for many New Hampshire voters," commented CBS, which returned to the same sample of voters that it had polled in November. Then, Clinton led Obama by 39 per cent to 19 per cent in the CBS sample.

Former vice presidential nominee John Edwards, who beat Clinton for second place in Iowa, was running a distant third in the latest New Hampshire polls.
Source : PTI