Poll finds Hillary Clinton support slips in California

By Adam Tanner

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Support for Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has fallen sharply since the summer in California, the biggest prize of all the primaries, although rivals have not yet benefited, a new poll released on Wednesday found.

The Field poll showed 36 percent of likely California Democratic voters in the February 5 presidential primary backing Clinton, down from 49 percent in August.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama ran second with 22 percent, up from 19 percent in August. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was third with 13 percent in the survey which had a sampling error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points. No other candidate had more than 3 percent.

Most of those who defected from Clinton appear to have landed for now in the "undecided" column, which grew from 12 percent in August to 20 percent now.

"The growth in the undecideds is fairly unusual," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. "Clinton has been on the defensive over the past month or so compared to her standing earlier in the campaign and it has appeared to have weakened her support."

California, the most populous state, will select about a fifth of the delegates needed at the Democratic National Convention next summer where the party's presidential nominee will be elected.

Almost half the delegates will be selected on "Super Tuesday" on February 5 when California and 21 other states hold their primaries. Mail balloting, which could account for up to half the votes, starts in California on January 7.

Steve Westly, the former California state controller who co-chairs Obama's state campaign, said the poll showed the race was wide open.