Clinton regains lead in New Hampshire voter poll

BOSTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton regained her lead over key rival Barack Obama in New Hampshire, where nomination voting in three weeks will shape the 2008 U.S. election race, a poll showed on Wednesday.

Clinton, a New York senator who spent the weekend campaigning in the wintry New England state, had the support of 38 percent of likely Democratic primary voters, compared with 26 percent for Obama, an Illinois senator, the CNN/WMUR New Hampshire Primary Poll found.

Last week, a similar poll had shown the two candidates in a statistical dead heat. The latest poll of 469 likely voters was conducted between Thursday and Monday and had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.

New Hampshire's January 8 primary vote is the second of the state-by-state battles to pick Democratic and Republican candidates for the presidential election on November 4, 2008.

The Midwestern state of Iowa holds the first nominating contest with its January 3 caucus.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards came in third among likely Democratic voters in New Hampshire, with 14 percent support.

The survey noted the state's voters typically wait until the last minute to make their final decisions. Thirty-eight percent said they were still undecided, 31 percent were leaning toward a candidate and 31 percent had definitely decided.

Likely voters said the war in Iraq and the U.S. health care system were the top two issues in the campaign.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by John O'Callaghan)