MANCHESTER, N.H. - Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry opened a commanding 13-point lead over Howard Dean as voting began in the New Hampshire primary, according to a Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.

Kerry's advantage over Dean grew by 10 points in the latest tracking poll as the state's undecided voters broke heavily in his favor, deciding he was the best Democratic challenger to President Bush in November.

Kerry led Dean 37 percent to 24 percent in the final poll before Tuesday's voting. John Edwards, a senator from North Carolina, held steady to claim third place with 12 percent, with retired Gen. Wesley Clark falling four points into a fourth-place tie with Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut at 9 percent.

"Kerry had a huge day as undecideds broke his way by a factor of four to one over Dean," pollster John Zogby said. "Kerry had a 19-point lead in Monday's one-day polling."

VOTER DOUBTS FOR DEAN

Dean had whittled Kerry's lead down to three points before Monday's poll, although other media polls tracking the New Hampshire race showed Kerry with a much wider lead.

But Zogby said Dean, a former Vermont governor who rose to the top of the Democratic pack on his blunt criticism of the war in Iraq, had not been able to overcome widespread voter doubts about his ability to defeat Bush.

"In our final sample, just about half told us that Dean was unlikely to defeat the president," Zogby said, adding electability was the key issue for Democrats and Kerry benefited from his status as a decorated Vietnam veteran.

"Dean had bottomed out in the latter part of the week, was regaining some of his support among key voting groups, and had rehabilitated, up to a point, his unfavorable ratings," Zogby said. "But in the final analysis, New Hampshire voters have decided to nominate a possible president instead of sending an angry message."

In Tuesday's poll, undecideds who were leaning toward one candidate were factored into the totals, leaving three percent undecided. Without factoring the leaners in the totals, 12 percent of likely New Hampshire voters would be undecided.

SURPRISING COMEBACK FOR KERRY

Dean led polls in New Hampshire by more than 20 points last month but much of his lead evaporated in the week before Iowa and quickly disappeared after his dismal third-place showing there and shouted concession speech.

Kerry, a senator from neighboring Massachusetts, rolled to his lead in New Hampshire this week after a surprising comeback win in Iowa's caucuses that gave his once faltering campaign a huge jolt of momentum.

Edwards scored a surprise second-place showing in Iowa and is trying to build momentum in New Hampshire before he heads next week to a must-win showdown in South Carolina, one of seven states that hold contests on Feb. 3.

Clark and Lieberman are desperately trying to avoid a fifth place showing that could cripple their candidacies.

"Clark and Lieberman are not out of the running for third place -- but Clark has experienced steady downward movement and Lieberman has yet to catch on," Zogby said.

The poll of 684 likely primary voters was taken Sunday and Monday and has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points. It is the final poll in New Hampshire.

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich received 3 percent in the poll, with civil rights activist Al Sharpton getting less than 1 percent.

Copyright 2004 Reuters Ltd

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