A new poll released Tuesday shows Democrat Barack Obama building a clear lead over Republican John McCain in Michigan as worries about the economy continue to dominate the race.
Obama has the backing of 54 percent of 1,043 likely Michigan voters, while McCain is supported by 38 percent. One percent said they'd vote for someone else and 7 percent were undecided, according to the Quinnipiac University poll. Four third-party candidates are on the ballot
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama holds strong leads over his Republican adversary John McCain in two national polls released Tuesday.
A New York Times/CBS News poll had Obama ahead of McCain by 14 points - 53 to 39% - while a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll shows Obama ahead by nine points, 50 to 41%.
Both polls were carried out among likely U.S. voters and released on the eve of the final Obama-McCain debate, with exactly three weeks before the Nov. 4 election.
The results of the LA Times/Bloomberg poll showed Obama broadening of his lead from a September survey that saw him ahead 49 to 45%, while the new results for the NYT/CBS News poll are substantially better than the three point lead Obama had in a poll taken just before the Oct. 7 Obama-McCain debate.
The NYT/CBS poll also shows McCain's sharp attacks on Obama seem to have backfired: 21% of those surveyed said their opinion of McCain has dropped in the last weeks, and the top two reasons cited were the McCain attacks on Obama and his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Obama is also ahead of McCain by 16 points when asked who has the right " personality and temperament" to be president, with 69% for Obama and 53% for McCain.
McCain is also hurt by his ties to the unpopular Republican president, George W. Bush, who had a mere 24% approval rating in the survey.
"With more than four out of five of each candidate's supporters now saying their minds are made up, the poll suggests that McCain faces serious challenges as he looks to close the gap on his Democratic rival in the final three weeks of the campaign," CBS News said.
The LA Times/Bloomberg poll said just 10% of Americans believed the country was headed in the right direction - the lowest percentage since the poll began asking the question in 1991.
The LA Times/Bloomberg poll was conducted Oct. 10 to 13 and included results from 1,543 people, and the poll's margin of error was plus or minus three points.
And the NYT/CBS News poll, also conducted Oct. 10-13, was carried out among 1, 070 adults nationwide, including 972 registered voters and has a plus or minus three percentage point margin of error.
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