Obama Builds Lead Over Clinton in National Contest
As he moves ever closer to wrapping up the Democratic Party presidential nomination, Obama is also opening up a big lead over Clinton among Democrats nationwide. In a national preference test, he leads her by a 59% to 33% margin, the latest Reuters/Zogby poll shows.
He completely dominates among those voters under age 35, winning more than 80% support, but also leads among all voters under age 70, where she holds a solid advantage. Obama also now leads among almost all likely Democratic voters according to political philosophy – moderates, mainline liberals, and progressives. Clinton leads only among conservative Democrats.
Obama also leads Clinton among both Catholics and Protestants, and among those who claim no religious affiliation.
Barack Obama has sprinted out to a 10-point lead over Republican John McCain(47%-37%) in a four-way presidential contest including Libertarian Bob Barr and Liberal Ralph Nader, the latest Reuters/Zogby telephone poll of likely voters nationwide shows.
Obama does well among his Democratic base, winning 79% support – an indication that the party faithful may be coming together behind his campaign as a bruising nomination campaign nears the end. He also does well among non-aligned voters, as independents favor him over McCain by a 48% to 32% margin.
(Obama, who was tied with McCain in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup last month, moved to a 48 percent to 40 percent lead over the Arizona senator)
The poll was taken Thursday through Sunday during a period when Obama came under attack from President George W. Bush and McCain for his promise to talk to hostile foreign leaders without preconditions.....May 15-18, 2008, and included 1,076 likely voters nationwide. The poll carries a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percentage points.
The attacks on Obama by Bush and McCain, who have been critical of his willingness to talk to leaders of countries like Iran, did not appear to hurt Obama. If anything, it reminded voters of McCain's ties to Bush, whose approval rating is still mired at record lows.
"The president is so unpopular. To inject himself into a presidential campaign does not help John McCain, particularly when McCain is tied to Bush," Zogby said.
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McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton are essentially tied in the latest Reuters/Zogby polling. Clinton won 41% support compared to 40% backing for McCain.