Reuters reports that in a Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll released on Saturday, Kerry holds a nine-point lead over Howard Dean in New Hampshire but the race may be getting closer.

According to Reuters:

Kerry led Dean 31 percent to 22 percent in the latest three-day tracking poll, but the last day of polling showed Kerry with a much smaller margin over Dean while John Edwards and Joseph Lieberman both gained ground on the leaders.

“Kerry’s lead is now nine points over three days, however he led only by 26 percent-22 percent over Dean in Friday polling alone, while Edwards and Lieberman each hit 10 percent,” pollster John Zogby said.

“Dean’s showing on Friday may suggest that he has bottomed out and may in fact be starting to increase,” Zogby said. “Another day like this and Dean may be in striking distance again.”

[. . .]

Dean, who held a more than 20-point lead over Kerry in New Hampshire in December, suggested on Friday that his campaign had “turned a corner” and was coming back up.

“We know New Hampshire always likes to change what Iowa does,” Dean told campaign volunteers in Keene, New Hampshire. “The question is how hard everyone is willing to work to get to where we were before.”

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, in third place, held steady at 14 percent. Edwards, a North Carolina senator, and Lieberman, a Connecticut senator, each gained one percentage point to 8 and 7 percent, respectively, over the course of the three days of polling.

This new poll is welcome news for Dean who has been dropping quickly in the polls since his Yowling “speech” after finishing third in Iowa. Perhaps the damage control interview Dean and his wife did with Diane Sawyer was effective.