Frontrunners Pulling Away?

Polls in Iowa indicate the presidential frontrunners in both parties are beginning to surge, just as the January 24 caucuses near.

A local Des Moines television poll of likely Republican caucus-goers indicates that 47 percent support Texas Governor George W. Bush, the national frontrunner. Publisher Steve Forbes -- known for having an extensive network of organizers in the state -- registers 24 percent. His campaign hopes for a strong start in Iowa to fuel his candidacy through the front-loaded campaign schedule. The other Republican candidates, including Arizona Senator John McCain, are in the single digits.

McCain, who did not participate in August's Iowa Straw Poll, has focused his early campaign on the Feb. 1 New Hampshire primary. Meanwhile, he and Forbes have begun attacking Bush's tax plan in hopes of making up some ground in the final days.

On the Democratic side, poll numbers show that Vice President Al Gore has maintained a commanding lead over New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley in Iowa, 53 to 32 percent respectively.

Poll watchers are trying to determine whether Bradley's repeated bouts of an irregular heartbeat -- reported in the press Friday -- will affect his candidacy at a crucial time in the campaign. Bradley announced to reporters that he has suffered from the condition four separate times in the last month, but says it is not debilitating. President George Bush suffered from an irregular heartbeat as well during his term in office.

Bradley remained optimistic about his chances in Iowa -- instead pointing to the polling unreliability in Iowa. "We're getting good responses from people,'' he said ``The real question is will people actually show up.''