A fun number buried in a new Quinnipiac poll shows that if John McCain were to pick Joe Lieberman as his running mate, it would actually cost McCain a lot of votes in Lieberman's home state:

If McCain picks Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate, only 14 percent of Connecticut voters say they are more likely to vote Republican, while 32 percent are less likely and 52 percent say it won't affect their vote.

If McCain were to pick Lieberman, more than twice as many in Connecticut would be more likely to vote against McCain than would be likely to vote for him.

Of course, that's not terribly surprising. After all, Lieberman misled his own constituents in not one, but two key ways. In order to survive the 2006 challenge from Ned Lamont, he said that no one wanted to bring the troops home from Iraq more than he did. He also pledged to support a Democrat in 2008.

Now, of course, Lieberman is supporting a Republican who explicitly says he wants the troops to say in Iraq indefinitely.

A new Quinnipiac poll of Connecticut gives Barack Obama a much firmer grip on the state than Hillary Clinton for the general election:

Clinton (D) 45%, McCain (R) 42%
Obama (D) 52%, McCain (R) 35%

From the internals: Obama wins independents 45%-38% over McCain, while McCain wins independents 48%-36% against Hillary.

Obama narrowly won the Connecticut primary on Super Tuesday, and has since picked up the endorsement of Sen. Chris Dodd — while John McCain is of course supported by the state's other Senator, Joe Lieberman.

The National Organization for Women chapter in Connecticut is joining the Hillary campaign's condemnation of Barack Obama's "present" votes on some abortion bills back in Illinois, sending out an e-mail to its members that quotes the head of Illinois NOW: "We made it clear at the time that we disagreed with the strategy ... Voting present doesn't provide a platform from which to show leadership and say with conviction that we support a woman's right to choose and these bills are unacceptable."

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), an Obama supporter, sent out an e-mail rebutting the charge, noting that none other than Illinois Planned Parenthood lobbied for a "present" vote, even if NOW disagreed. "The facts are clear — in the Illinois state senate, choice advocates asked strong pro-choice legislators like Senator Obama to vote 'present' on Republican-designed bills like a ban on partial birth abortion to protect a woman's right to choose."

Thanks for bearing with us during out technical difficulties today. Here's a roundup of the various state polls that came out today, and what sense of direction they give for the Democratic primaries tomorrow. The bottom line: Your guess is really as good as ours about what's going to happen.

Hillary Clinton appears to be on track for roughly 55% in the New York Primary:

Quinnipiac: Clinton 53%, Obama 39%

SurveyUSA: Clinton 56%, Obama 38%

PPP (D): Clinton 52%, Obama 32%

Barack Obama, meanwhile, looks to be on the verge of an even greater majority in his home state:

SurveyUSA: Obama 66%, Clinton 30%

More polls after the jump.

Read more »

A poll of Connecticut released yesterday evening by Rasmussen shows that there may well be some bounce for Barack Obama from his victory in South Carolina and the Ted Kennedy endorsement. Obama and Hillary Clinton are now tied at 40% each, with John Edwards way behind at 9%.

Rasmussen did not have a previous poll of the Connecticut primary, but a look at other polls shows that Obama used to have trouble breaking even 30%. Can he leverage the Kennedy endorsement into wins in some New England states where he'd been way behind?

A new poll from the University of Connecticut gives Hillary Clinton and John McCain the leads in their respective primaries for this Super Tuesday state:

Democrats:
Clinton 41%
Obama 27%
Edwards 9%

Republicans:
McCain 39%
Giuliani 16%
Romney 11%
Huckabee 8%
Thompson 6%

Some more bad news for Rudy, with his February 5 strategy: The Connecticut Republican primary is a winner-take-all contest — so if he lost here by even one point, he wouldn't get a single delegate.

A new Quinnipiac poll has some bad news for Chris Dodd: He's polling at 5% in the Democratic primary for his home state of Connecticut.

Hillary Clinton leads with 45%, with Barack Obama in second place at 19%. John Edwards has 7%, statistically tied with Dodd's 5%.

Rudy Giuliani dominates the Republican field here with 41%, followed way behind by Mitt Romney at 13% and John McCain with 12%.

The general election numbers, available after the jump, also show that Rudy might be able to make this normally blue state competitive.

Read more »