NATIONAL POLLS SHOW McCAIN LEAD, SPLIT ON OBAMA GAINS

Two national polls released last night show Senator McCain of Arizona establishing a clear lead in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination, but the surveys diverged on the state of the Democratic contest. In an ABC/ Washington Post poll, support for Senator Obama of Illinois jumped to 37% among likely Democratic primary voters, putting him within striking distance of Senator Clinton, who had the backing of 42%. However, in a CBS/New York Times poll, Mrs. Clinton drew 42%, while Mr. Obama lagged with 27%. Both figures were essentially unchanged from December. The new CBS survey did show an increase in the number of Democrats who consider the Illinois senator the most likely to beat the Republican nominee in November.

In the ABC survey, Mr. McCain had 28% of likely Republican primary voters, Michael Huckabee had 20%, and Mitt Romney had 19%. Mayor Giuliani came in fourth with 15% and Fred Thompson had 8%. In the CBS poll, Mr. McCain had 33%, Mr. Huckabee, 18%, and Mr. Giuliani, 10%. Messrs. Romney and Thompson tied at 8%.

In what could be an ominous sign for Republicans, the CBS survey concluded that about twice as many voters were likely to vote in the Democratic primaries than in the Republican ones.

CLINTON ALLY DENIES HE ALLUDED TO OBAMA’S DRUG USE

A supporter of Mrs. Clinton, Robert Johnson of Black Entertainment Television, is denying that a statement he made was a thinly-veiled allusion to Mr. Obama’s admission that he used marijuana and cocaine when he was younger.

“To me, as an African American, I am frankly insulted the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues — when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood; I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in his book — when they have been involved,” Mr. Johnson said as he joined Mrs. Clinton at a rally in Columbia, S.C., according to the Associated Press.

Journalists interpreted the reference as a discussion of Mr. Obama’s acknowledgement, in his autobiography, that he experimented with drugs, but Mr. Johnson denied that. “My comments today were referring to Barack Obama’s time spent as a community organizer, and nothing else. Any other suggestion is simply irresponsible and incorrect,” Mr. Johnson said in a statement released by the Clinton campaign.

HUCKABEE ATTACKS THOMPSON OVER LIBYA WORK

Mr. Huckabee is calling out one of his rivals for the Republican nomination, Mr. Thompson, for ties to an Arab nation blamed for the Pan Am 103 bombing and other acts of terrorism, Libya. “Fred Thompson talks about putting American first and yet he’s the one who is registered foreign agent, lobbied for foreign countries, was in a law firm that did lobbying work for Libya,” the former Arkansas governor said on CNN’s “Late Edition” yesterday. “I certainly wouldn’t put my name on something like that.

Mr. Thompson conceded in a separate CNN appearance that he “was in a law firm that did some work for Libya.”

He initially denied being a registered foreign agent for any country, but quickly acknowledged that he was included in the law firm’s official report of work done on behalf of Haiti. “A dictatorship had taken over that country and we were opposing that,” the former senator from Tennessee said. He said he never met with the foreign client and just gave advice to another lawyer at the firm. “That’s pretty thin gruel,” Mr. Thompson said.