McCain erases Obama lead
WASHINGTON(AP) - Republican Sen. John McCain has erased Sen. Barack Obama's 10-point advantage in a head-to-head matchup, leaving him essentially tied with both Democratic candidates in an Associated Press-Ipsos national poll released Thursday.
The survey showed the extended Democratic primary campaign creating divisions among supporters of Obama and rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and suggests a tight race for the presidency in November no matter which Democrat becomes the nominee.
McCain is benefiting from a bounce since he clinched the GOP nomination a month ago. The four-term Arizona senator has moved up in matchups with each of the Democratic candidates, particularly Obama.
An AP-Ipsos poll taken in late February had Obama leading McCain 51-41 percent. The current survey, conducted April 7-9, had them at 45 percent each. McCain leads Obama among men, whites, Southerners, married women and independents.
Clinton led McCain, 48-43 percent, in February. The latest survey showed the New York senator with 48 percent support to McCain's 45 percent. Factoring in the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, Clinton and McCain are statistically tied.
The last month has been challenging for Obama. The Illinois senator suffered high-profile losses in the Texas and Ohio primaries that encouraged Clinton, who pushed on even harder against him. Obama's campaign also suffered a blow with scrutiny of incendiary sermons delivered by his longtime pastor. The candidate responded by delivering perhaps the biggest speech of his campaign to call for racial understanding.
Obama is also facing almost daily critiques from Clinton and McCain, questioning whether the freshman lawmaker has the experience to be a wartime leader.
Despite all the conflict surrounding Obama, the Democratic contest is unchanged from February with Obama at 46 percent and Clinton at 43 percent. But the heated primary is creating divisions among the electorate — many Clinton and Obama supporters say they would rather vote for McCain if their chosen Democrat doesn't win the nomination.
About a quarter of Obama supporters say they'll vote for McCain if Clinton is the Democratic nominee. About a third of Clinton supporters say they would vote for McCain if it's Obama.
Against McCain, Obama lost ground among women — from 57 percent in February to 47 percent in April. Obama dropped 12 points among women under 45, 14 points among suburban women and 15 points among married women.
- 1 Nick Jonas and Selena Gomez- Disney Love in the Air
- 2 Citibank First Introduces Multi-Functional Octopus Credit Card
- 3 Hong Kong Inflation Skyrockets, Jumps Up to Highest in 11 Years
- 4 Revolutionary Configuration Tool to Dramatically Reduce Network Design Time for SI and ISP.
- 5 Christian Bale arrested, released; denies assault
- 6 HKs anti-money laundering efforts hailed
- 7 Hong Kong Book Fair 2008 draws the young
- 1 Paulson says financial stability is top priority
- 2 Yahoo 2Q profit erodes but not as badly as feared
- 3 Wa Wa Woes
- 4 Obama vows to work for Mideast breakthrough
- 5 Beijing has first workday under car restrictions
- 6 Hong Kong consumer prices rise 6.1%
- 7 SOHO China shares rose as new Beijing project good pre-sales
- 1 HK ample security staff assured for events: WK Lam
- 2 Judge: Girl's name, Talula Does The Hula, won't do
- 3 Air Force missile launch crew fell asleep
- 4 HK Fund management sees record growt
- 5 HK June total export value dips 0.6%
- 6 China marshals Olympic spirit to rebuild
- 7 HK Q3 business surge forecast
|
|
