PPP Ohio and Florida Polls: Edwards strongest for Dems

Barack Obama won the Iowa caucus and Hillary Clinton leads the polls in New Hampshire, but John Edwards continues to be the safest choice for Democrats to reclaim the White House.

PPP did polls testing 12 possible general election matchups in the key battleground states of Florida and Ohio tonight, so that they would reflect all the momentum candidates gained or lost based on the results in Iowa.

Edwards is the only Democrat to lead all four Republican hopefuls in Ohio, and he leads three out of four in Florida as well.

By contrast Barack Obama leads only two out of four GOP possibilities in Ohio and just one in Florida. Hillary Clinton leads Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani but trails John McCain and Mike Huckabee in each of those states.

On the Republican side, John McCain came out as the strongest potential nominee, reflecting his national resurgence over the last few weeks. He leads all the Democrats in Florida and two out of three in Ohio.

Voters in key primary states over the next few weeks who are concerned about electability should probably be giving their votes to John Edwards and John McCain.

The numbers:

Ohio:

Edwards 51
Giuliani 34

Edwards 53
Romney 33

Edwards 49
Huckabee 40

Edwards 47
McCain 40

Clinton 44
Giuliani 37

Clinton 45
Romney 40

Huckabee 45
Clinton 43

McCain 46
Clinton 42

Obama 47
Giuliani 37

Obama 43
Huckabee 43

McCain 45
Obama 42

Obama 44
Romney 38

Florida:

Edwards 47
Giuliani 38

Edwards 47
Romney 39

Edwards 46
Huckabee 42

McCain 42
Edwards 41

Clinton 45
Giuliani 39

Clinton 46
Romney 42

Huckabee 47
Clinton 44

McCain 46
Clinton 42

Obama 44
Giuliani 42

Huckabee 45
Obama 42

McCain 46
Obama 40

Obama 43
Romney 43

Full results and crosstabs here.