Bloggers aren't buying the Hillary poll spike in Iowa, offer some interesting theories about "shopdropping," and weigh Will Smith's comments about Adolf Hitler.

Hillary's Iowa boost: According to an American Research Group poll conducted Dec. 20-23, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama in the Iowa caucus by 34 percent to 19 percent. Also, John Edwards is in second place with 20 percent. These results are in stark contrast to recent polls that had Obama ahead, which, coupled with the timing of the poll, has bloggers wary of the ARG's reliability.

The Moderate Voice'sJoe Gandelman doesn't credit Hillary with raising her own positive profile. Rather, the poll is all about Obama: "If this holds and Clinton wins, the pundits will have a field day analyzing how the sagging polls were turned around. One thing seems clear: Obama either started to fail to make his case or the Clinton camp successfully raised his negatives enough to defuse his threat."

Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake analyzes the various polls: "Nobody can afford a Hillary win -- her 'inevitability' factor becomes enormous. But Edwards and Obama are splitting the 'reform' vote right now, and it will make life easier for camp Clinton for that to continue. Would they make such a deal to help Edwards take #1 and slow down Obama?"

Erick Posted at Red State says there's nothing to see here: "I suspect it is because the polling was conducted over the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before Christmas. Exactly which sorts of malcontents would rather sit on the phone answering polling questions than visiting with family and playing Wii bowling?" Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo is also skeptical of the Hillary surge: "As far as I can tell, ARG is the only polling operation showing this so far. … And the clear trend line up until then was a steady move toward Obama with him opening up a very slender but measurable lead. And if that's not enough, add one more issue: polls over the holidays are notoriously wobbly because a lot more people aren't home and, I assume, it's difficult to construct a model that takes into account the demographic profile of those most and least likely to hit the road for Christmas."

The pseudonymous Richelieu at the Weekly Standard's Campaign Standard adds to the bogus factor: "Voters don't answer the phone or refuse to play along when they do answer. Which means response rates go way down, samples tilt away from a statistically reliable random frame of the population, and results go bad."

Todd Bouldin at Meat and Three Cafe sees two spoilers for Hillary in Iowa: "The reliability of Edward's caucus supporters who have shown up for past caucuses, or the enthusiastic and unpredictable turnout of Obama's supporters who never have shown up for caucuses before this year. Obama's secret strength: Young voters with cell phones who are not being polled by polling companies that rely on landline phones. Hillary's hope: Her supporters are the most enthusiastic about their candidate, and the most loyal."

Read more about the ARG poll.

Dropping till you shop: A new phenomenon this holiday season: "shopdropping." Instead of the five-finger discount, patrons leave merchandise, whether it's an anarchist T-shirt or action doll or an indie band's CD. It's a bipartisan affair: Evangelical Christians drop conversion literature in between the pages of books geared toward gays.

Counterfeit Chic digs it: "Such faux merchandise occupies questionable legal territory along with appropriated shelf space.  Does it comply with labeling laws and safety regulations?  Does it make unauthorized use of trademarks?  Does it fraudulently imply an association with the store? But shopdropping also provides a commodity that no gourmet fruitcake, Santa sweater, or electronic excrescence offers:  food for thought."