MA: University Polls Give Edge to Clinton

By Lyndsey Layton
An election eve poll of three bellwether towns in Massachusetts suggests Hillary Rodham Clinton will win the state's Democratic primary. Waltham, Stoneham and Nahant -- three suburbs outside Boston -- have historically proved good predictors of election day outcomes. A poll by Suffolk University and the local NBC affiliate shows Clinton leading Barack Obama in Waltham 46 percent to 42 percent and in the combined Stoneham and Nahant areas 54 percent to 41 percent.

Statewide polls leading up to today have shown Obama and Clinton neck and neck.

"We've seen this same trend before," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. "Our New Hampshire poll had a statistical dead heat while both New Hampshire bellwethers, Kingston and Sandown, showed Clinton winning. We have a similar statistical dead heat in our statewide poll but all three bellwethers show a similar Clinton trend. Will history repeat itself?"