McCain takes fifth place in Iowa poll

The Business Journal of Phoenix - by Mike Sunnucks Phoenix Business Journal

Arizona Sen. John McCain sits in fifth place among Republican presidential contenders in the early battleground state of Iowa, according to a new poll.

The University of Iowa poll released Monday gives McCain 6 percent in the 2008 GOP presidential field. That is behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 36 percent, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (13 percent each) and actor Fred Thompson (11 percent).

One of McCain's U.S. Senate colleagues, U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH., also announced Monday he was backing Romney's White House run.

On the Democratic side, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was favored by 29 percent of those polled, leading Illinois Sen. Barack Obama at 27 percent and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards at 20 percent.

The Iowa poll interviewed 689 voters between Oct. 17 and 24 with a margin of error of 4 percent.