Democrat Polling in IA

David Yepsin at the DesMoines Register takes a look at the early Iowa polling for the Democratic Presidential candidates. (via RCP).

The biggest beneficiary of the withdrawal of IA Gov. Tom Vilsak appears at this point to be - John Edwards? Edwards is up 15 points since January, Hillary is down 1, and they are statistically tied at 34-33%. Sen. Obama is at 16%, and the other candidates, Senators Joe Biden & Chris Dodd, along with NM Gov. Bill Richardson, are all mired in single digits. Yepsin does note, however:

"While the poll is new, it may already be a bit dated. It came out of the field Thursday and so does not reflect the weekend's two major developments in the campaign — the disclosure Friday that Elizabeth Edwards' cancer has re-emerged and Vilsack's endorsement of Clinton on Monday."

I had just heard of the Vilsak endorsement this morning, I understand he knows the Clintons from the early 1970s. Interesting, to say the least. While Hillary can probably afford to lose in IA, for Edwards, it's a critical state leading to the Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina (his home state) primaries. Also interesting to note, I had no idea Edwards finished second in IA in 2004.