Obama holds solid lead on McCain
Thursday, 30 October 2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters): Democrat Barack Obama has a steady five-point national lead over Republican John McCain with six days left in the grueling race for the White House, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
Obama leads McCain by 49 per cent to 44 per cent among likely voters in the three-day national tracking poll, inching up from his four-point advantage on Tuesday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
"The daily numbers were essentially unchanged from yesterday, with just a slight improvement for Obama," pollster John Zogby said. "The race is frozen in place for now."
The Illinois senator still holds a solid lead with several crucial blocs of swing voters -- he is ahead by 15 points among independents, 10 points among women, eight points among Catholics and 5 points among voters above the age 65.
The race is essentially tied among men and McCain moved into a slight two-point lead among self-described blue-collar workers as the two candidates push toward next week's vote.
"Obama is holding steady," Zogby said.
Obama has held a lead of between two and 12 points every day since the tracking poll began three weeks ago. McCain, an Arizona senator, has not been able to push his support above 45 per cent in that time, while Obama reached a high mark of 52 per cent a week ago before drifting back.
Obama leads McCain by 49 per cent to 44 per cent among likely voters in the three-day national tracking poll, inching up from his four-point advantage on Tuesday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
"The daily numbers were essentially unchanged from yesterday, with just a slight improvement for Obama," pollster John Zogby said. "The race is frozen in place for now."
The Illinois senator still holds a solid lead with several crucial blocs of swing voters -- he is ahead by 15 points among independents, 10 points among women, eight points among Catholics and 5 points among voters above the age 65.
The race is essentially tied among men and McCain moved into a slight two-point lead among self-described blue-collar workers as the two candidates push toward next week's vote.
"Obama is holding steady," Zogby said.
Obama has held a lead of between two and 12 points every day since the tracking poll began three weeks ago. McCain, an Arizona senator, has not been able to push his support above 45 per cent in that time, while Obama reached a high mark of 52 per cent a week ago before drifting back.