Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois were tied in three of the earliest Democratic presidential contests of the new year, and the freshman senator appears poised to overtake the former first lady.

Ten days before the political marathon of caucuses and primaries kicks off Jan. 3 in the snowy Midwestern farm country of Iowa, independent polls showed that Mrs. Clinton's presidential bid has stalled and Mr. Obama has gained momentum in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination.

Mrs. Clinton has been touting her experience as a key policy adviser and advocate during the two terms of her husband's presidency, saying she is "ready to lead," while Mr. Obama, in the third year of his first term in the Senate, has been running as the candidate who will break the polarizing gridlock of the past to achieve sweeping political and policy changes in Washington.

According to the latest state surveys of likely Democratic voters, the two were in a dead heat in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, three of the pivotal battleground states in the six presidential-preference contests that will be held next month. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina trailed in third place.

In Iowa, where 57 delegates were at stake, the two were dead even with 28.3 percent each last week, according to an average of the last six polls in the state compiled by Real Clear Politics, which tracks all the state-by-state presidential polls. A Washington Post/ABC News poll of 652 likely caucus voters conducted over four days, from Dec. 13 to 17, showed Mr. Obama leading by 33 percent to 29 percent.

In New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary, where 30 delegates will be up for grabs Jan. 8, a USA Today/Gallup poll of 599 likely voters released Thursday showed the two tied at 30 percent each. The results mirrored the past six polls conducted this month, in which Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton were never more than two or three points apart either way.

In South Carolina's Jan. 26 primary, with 54 delegates at stake, two recent polls showed the two rivals in a statistical tie. A SurveyUSA poll of 496 likely voters conducted over two days last week showed Mrs. Clinton edging Mr. Obama by a razor-thin 41 percent to 39 percent. A CBS News poll released Thursday had Mr. Obama at 35 percent and Mrs. Clinton at 34 percent. Both polls had error margins greater than the gap between the two leading candidates.

Democrats in the Iowa and New Hampshire contests traditionally make up their minds late in the race, and they are known for upending the establishment candidate. Party activists in both states said last week that more undecided voters have begun breaking for Mr. Obama than for the New York senator.

"It's very close. A significant number of voters here wait until the final two or three days of the campaign to make up their mind," said New Hampshire Democratic strategist Jim Demers, who is backing Mr. Obama.

Although she still leads national polls, those numbers have fallen significantly in the past month, from 50 percent in a USA Today-Gallup Poll in early November to 40 percent this month in two polls of likely voters, by Rasmussen and Zogby. That erosion was not only reflected in the early primaries and caucuses, but in some of February's contests as well.

In California, one of nearly two dozen states that will hold primaries on Feb. 5, a Field Poll last week said Mrs. Clinton held a 14-point lead, but that her support had dropped significantly from 45 percent to 36 percent since October. Mr. Obama trailed with 22 percent.

But in Georgia, Mr. Obama has edged slightly ahead of Mrs. Clinton, 33 percent to 31 percent, according to an InsiderAdvantage poll of 885 likely voters conducted Dec. 17-18 for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

"We have Obama up both in South Carolina and Georgia," pollster Matt Towery said. "Both have high African-American participation in their Democratic primaries. The African-American vote as reflected in the polls is usually the last demographic group to consolidate. But this consolidation is now occurring."

By Donald Lambro, The Washington Times, December 24, 2007