UPDATE - December 14: Poll Update

UPDATE: 2 new Iowa polls were released today. The first from Hotline/FD shows Huckabee ahead by 13 points:

Huckabee 36
Romney 23
Giuliani 12
Thompson 8
McCain 5
Paul 5

The second from Research 2000 shows Huckabee ahead by 9 points:

Huckabee 31
Romney 22
Thompson 9
Giuliani 9
McCain 7
Paul 7

Huckabee's Iowa poll average (34.5) from Real Clear Politics is now more than 12 points ahead of Romney's (21.8).

In a stunning new development, a Rasmussen poll released this morning for Florida shows Mike Huckabee in 1st place:

Mitt Romney’s strategy for winning the Republican nomination was to win the early states and build momentum. Rudy Giuliani’s plan was to accept defeats in the early states and come back strong on January 29 in Florida and in many large states on February 5.

The latest Rasmussen Reports polling in the state of Florida suggests that Giuliani might need to work on a “Plan B.’ Mike Huckabee now leads in the Sunshine State Primary with 27% of the vote. He is trailed closely by Romney at 23% and Giuliani at 19%. Fred Thompson is at 9% in the poll, John McCain at 6%, and Ron Paul at 4%. Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter each attract 1% and 8% are undecided.

Those figures reflect a stunning change in the race since November when Rasmussen Reports polling found Giuliani on top with 27% followed by Romney at 19% and Thompson at 16%. Since then, Huckabee has gained 18 percentage points and Romney picked up four points. Giuliani is down eight, Thompson is down seven, and McCain is down four.

In an IVR Texas poll released yesterday, Huckabee has shot up to 29%, putting him in first place:

Huckabee 29% (16%)
Giuliani 16% (23%)
Thompson 14% (16%)
Romney 14% (12%)
McCain 7% (9%)
Paul 6% (5%)

Huckabee also surged to 1st place in a recent Delaware poll:

Mike Huckabee 25%
Rudy Giuliani 21%
Ron Paul 15%
Mitt Romney 13%
Fred Thompson 11%
John McCain 6%

A new South Carolina poll from CNN shows Huckabee in first place:

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee surged to the top among Republican presidential candidates in South Carolina, while Sen. Hillary Clinton's lead over Sen. Barack Obama among Democrats narrowed since July in that state, according to a new poll.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll of South Carolinians was released Friday Huckabee was the choice of 24 percent of South Carolina Republicans in the survey conducted by telephone between Dec. 9 and 12. When the same poll was conducted in July, Huckabee was in the lower tier with just 3 percent of support from registered GOP voters.

Former Sen. Fred Thompson was second with 17 percent, slightly down from his previous 18 percent.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led in July with 30 percent, dropped to a tie for third with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, both at 16 percent. Romney's showing was a major improvement of his 6 percent standing in the previous survey.

The poll showed Sen. John McCain falling from 21 percent in July — the second highest — to a fifth place 13 percent now. Rep. Ron Paul's 11 percent for seventh was a major boost from the two percent registered by the July survey.

The Rasmussen national tracking poll for Friday remains unchanged for the frontrunners Huckabee and Giuliani:

Huckabee 23
Giuliani 19
Romney 15
McCain 11
Thompson 11
Paul 5