Zogby: Obama and Romney With Big Leads in California

A new poll released this morning shows Barack Obama with a huge lead over Hillary Clinton in California, and Mitt Romney pulling away from John McCain:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama surged to a big lead over Hillary Clinton in California hours before "Super Tuesday" voting began in 24 states, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.

In the Republican race, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney held a 7-point advantage on Arizona Sen. John McCain in California, while McCain added to commanding double-digit leads in New York and New Jersey.

You have to take Zogby with a bit of caution. In 2004 he called the election for John Kerry early in the afternoon, and we all know how that turned out. His numbers were terrible and there have been other occasions when Zogby polls have been suspicious.

California pollsters have not always had the best record. I remember election night in 1982 when pollster Mervyn Field confidently told all of us that Jerry Brown would win the Senate and Tom Bradley would be our new governor, both Democrats. Republicans took both of those races fairly easily.

We'll see how good they are this time.