Undecided is winning

A new FOX poll is out (courtesy the left coaster) and, while it still shows Wesley Clark in the lead, it indicates a serious drop in support for him from their last poll:

		10/14-15	9/23-24	9/9-10
		%	%	%
	Wesley Clark	13	20	n/a
	Howard Dean	12	13	14
	Joe Lieberman	11	9	16
	John Kerry	10	10	17
	Dick Gephardt	9	9	6
	John Edwards	3	5	4
	Carol Moseley Braun	3	2	3
	Al Sharpton	2	2	2
	Dennis Kucinich	2	1	2
	Someone else/Other (vol.)	-	5	7
	Wouldn't vote (vol.)/Not sure	35	21	26
	Bob Graham	n/a	2	3

Does this mean Clark is stumbling? Probably not. I suspect it is more a case that his initial jump in the national polls reflected a sense of uncertainty amongst Democratic voters. None of the previous candidates has ever polled as high as "Undecided/Someone Else". Many were growing disenchanted with the choices available. So when Clark jumped into the race a fresh face, combined with an appealing resume, brought a significant number of people on board. But, as Clark has started to assert himself in the field, and critical stories about him have come out, some of those early grabbers may be thinking that they jumped the gun.

In other words, Mr. Undecided still holds the greatest appeal for the most voters right now. Winning them over will be the real challenge of the next three months.