Tight race in S.C. Republican primary, poll says

A new poll in the key early voting state of South Carolina shows Hillary Clinton ahead among Democrats and Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson in a three-way Republican race.

The Winthrop University/ETV survey, released tonight, says Clinton leads Barack Obama by 33 percent to 23 percent. John Edwards, though he was born in South Carolina and won the primary there in 2004, is well back at 10 percent.

Among Republicans, Thompson leads narrowly with 18 percent, compared to 16 percent each for Giuliani and Romney. John McCain has 9 percent and Mike Huckabee has 5 percent.

South Carolina's Republican primary, scheduled for Jan. 19, is a key battleground because it's the first nominating contest in the South and is slotted after Iowa and New Hampshire and before more than 20 states vote on Feb. 5.

South Carolina Democrats are also seeking to move their primary from Jan. 29 to Jan. 19 to coincide with the GOP contest.

The poll, conducted Oct. 7-28 among 522 likely Republican primary voters and 534 likely Democratic voters, has a margin of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points among Republicans and 4 percentage points among Democrats.