Poll Shows Clinton, Obama Tied Among Democrats Nationally
A new poll shows Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama virtually tied for support among Democrats, a surprising development in a race that has seen Obama chalk up big name after big name in recent days and blow away Clinton’s fundraising efforts.
The same poll shows Obama’s lead nationally over presumptive Republican nominee John McCain shrinking, although both Obama and Democratic rival Clinton led McCain in cross-party match-ups in the new New York Times/CBS News poll released Friday.
The poll showed Obama and Clinton in a statistical dead heat: 46 percent of Democrats said the party should nominate Obama and 43 percent supporting Clinton. The number represented an eight-point drop for Obama, who a month earlier held a 54-38 lead over Clinton on the same question among Democrats. The poll cited a drastic drop in support by white men for part of the erosion of support for Obama.
The poll also found that Obama’s favorability ratings — while still soaring at 62 percent — had dropped somewhat.
In the match-ups with McCain, Obama appeared to have lost strength over McCain. Versus McCain, Obama led 47-42; in late February, Obama led McCain 50-38. In the current poll, Clinton led McCain 48-43 percent.
The March 28-April 2 poll surveyed 510 Democratic primary voters and 328 Republican primary voters. It contained a 3 percentage-point margin of error for all voters, and 4 percentage-point error for Democratic voters.
Only Fox polls show Obama and Clinton tied. Other polls all show Obama significantly ahead.