Lanny Davis wrote an article yesterday in The Hill criticizing media coverage of Hillary Clinton's polling numbers, particularly with respect to claims that Barack Obama is closing in on her.

The Wall. St. Journal has just published the results of a poll showing Hillary at 36% and Obama at 31%.

Sen. Barack Obama is closing the gap in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination, trailing Sen. Hillary Clinton just 36% to 31%, a new WSJ/NBC poll finds. Last month, Obama lagged 12 percentage points behind Clinton. Support for John Edwards rose to 20% from 15%. The backdrop for those findings, fueling Democratic hopes for recapturing the White House next year, remains deep discontent with President Bush and the Iraq war. The poll results show Americans side with congressional Democrats on Iraq by a lopsided 56% to 37%.

Personally, I don't take the election poll numbers too seriously this early in the race. But what I do take seriously is this:

Three months after Mr. Bush announced a new policy to stabilize violence by sending more troops, just 12% see evidence of improvement. Some 49% say conditions in Iraq have gotten worse, while another 37% say they've stayed the same.

A 55% majority says that victory in Iraq is no longer possible; 36% say victory remains within reach.