Gallup Poll - Dean Building Lead, Strongest Among Liberals

Twenty-five percent of registered voters who identify with or lean to the Democratic Party say they are supporting Dean for the nomination. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark ranks second with 17%. Three weeks ago, Dean and Clark were tied at 17%.

The latest results show Dean with especially strong support among Democrats who identify as liberals. He leads Clark, his next closest challenger, by 29 points (40% vs. 11%) among this group. Among moderate Democrats, Clark and Dean are closely matched for the lead, 19% to 17%. Among the relatively small group of Democrats who identify as conservatives, Gephardt at 25% holds a statistically significant lead over Dean with 11%.

el - Interesting that Gephardt is the conservative choice when he has more liberal positions. A lot of this has to do with style and the media's story of Dean as liberal.

This is the first time the national Gallup poll shows Dean with the lead.