A new Washington Post-ABC poll shows a virtual dead heat in Iowa between Senator Barak Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton, and former Senator John Edwards.

In the poll, 27 percent said they would vote for Obama, 26 percent for Clinton and 26 percent for Edwards. The only other Democrat to register in double digits was Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, at 11 percent. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) trailed at 2 percent, and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) at 1 percent.

A hotly contested race to be sure. Retail goes a long way in Iowa, and the Post points out that

As is the case nationally, Clinton gains from being seen as the strongest leader and the most electable contender. But in a state where retail politics can be crucial, she lags far behind her main rivals in voters’ rankings of the most likable candidate.

Edwards has invested heavily here, hoping to build momentum with a victory and offset the natural advantages enjoyed by both Clinton and Obama. But all of the campaigns are ramping it up, and Edwards earlier advantage in the state appears to have been neutralized.

The poll provides stark evidence of how intense the early campaigning has been. The 71 percent of voters who have already received a telephone call from one of the campaigns is about equal to the percentage of likely caucus-goers who reported getting called in December 2003, the month before the 2004 caucuses.

And so John Edwards truly hangs in the balance, and the stop Hillary movement has an opportunity to slow that train down. But a Hillary victory could create a small stampede based on the inevitability factor. Will Hillary close the deal in Iowa?

Read the Washington Post story here.