Washington Bureau

Q Poll: Obama Leads in 3 Key Swing States


Barack Obama’s lead over John McCain is shrinking, according to updated “swing state” polling released today by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute shows.

Obama leads 49 percent to 44 percent in the telephone survey taken between from last Thursday Oct. 16 through Tuesday. Obama had led 51-43 percent on Oct. 1.

The survey of 1,433 Florida voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

The same poll shows Obama increasing his lead in Ohio, to 52 – 38 percent; McCain has gained slightly in a third traditional swing state, Pennsylvania, but the poll shows Obama still holds a double-digit lead, 53 percent to 40 percent.

By margins of eight to 19 points, voters in each state told the pollsters they trust Obama more than McCain to handle the economy.

By smaller margins of two to six points, voters say they trust McCain more than Obama to handle foreign policy.

“As we enter the home stretch, Sen. Obama is winning voter groups that no Democrat has carried in more than four decades, and he holds very solid leads in the big swing states. If these numbers hold up, he could win the biggest Democratic landslide since Lyndon Johnson in 1964,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“In Florida, Obama’s margin over McCain is due mostly from stronger support from Hispanics than Kerry received," said Brown, referring to Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate who lost the state to President Bush.

-- Billy House, Media General News Service
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