Star-Ledger

Buoyed by a convincing victory in the Iowa caucus, Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign ramped up its efforts in New Jersey yesterday, scheduling a half-dozen rallies across the state today and predicting a surge of support ahead of the Feb. 5 primary.

Obama, the first-term senator from Illinois, has a lot of ground to make up. According to the most recent poll of likely voters, conducted last month, Obama trailed New York Sen. Hillary Clinton by 34 percentage points in the Garden State.

READ MORE: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1199511330320470.xml&coll=1

---