New Tennessee Primary Poll

What a difference a week can make....WSMV has a new poll out, which shows dramatically different numbers than a previous poll from January 22nd, and it shows a surge for Barack Obama in Tennessee.

Hillary Clinton has edged up 2 points to 36.

Barack Obama has gained 11 points from 20 to 31.

John Edwards has dropped from 16 to 7, with 3 percent fewer undecided votes...still 25% of the poll sample.

This is interesting, as it appears to show that nearly all of the former Edwards support has shifted over to Barack Obama. While the anecdotal evidence I've seen seemed to bear this out, I'm quite surprised to see it occurring across the State of Tennessee. This may show that Hillary Clinton has a limited appeal in Tennessee, and with Edwards out of the picture, more people are willing to give Obama a shot at their support.

While some will point to policy and say that because of Health Care mandates, Hillary should be ahead with Edwards voters, the truth is most people don't pay attention to minute policy differences when choosing a candidate; like it or not, personality goes a long way in making that decision.

Of course, there are still 25% of Democrats who haven't chosen a candidate. This could all go towards Hillary Clinton, we simply don't know. What is also of interest, is that Obama does better with Women (35-34 Hillary to Obama) than with men (36-28 Hillary to Obama) perhaps because Edwards is still pulling in 11% of the vote from that demographic. The question is, will they, like LeftWingCracker, continue to support Edwards in the voting booth on Tuesday, or will they break for another candidate?

(h/t Kleinheider)

Update: The poll also looks at Republican voters....and as I've said before, any poll that does not include Fred Thompson in the options is a worthless poll. He will still be on the ballot, and there are many who will likely still vote for him.

Update II: The timing of this poll is also significant, because as I pointed out yesterday, early voting in Tennessee didn't start to pick up until Monday of this week, and the poll was conducted on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Which means that her early lead may be less significant going into Feb. 5th.