Los Angeles, CA -
With less than a day remaining before half the country goes to the polls in the largest Super Tuesday contest ever, Illinois Senator Barack Obama is slowly gaining ground against New York Senator Hillary Clinton in national polls. On the Republican side, Arizona Senator John McCain appears to be emerging as the frontrunner.
The latest national CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll shows Clinton and Obama in an extremely tight race to come out on top on Super Tuesday, when 24 states will choose their presidential candidates. Since Obama's strong win in the South Carolina primary, he has been gaining on Clinton in the national arena, now leading her 49 percent to 46 percent in the CNN poll. The poll has an error margin of 4.5 percent. The same poll conducted in mid-January had Clinton leading Obama by 42 percent to 33 percent.
"Coming out of his overwhelming victory in South Carolina and followed quickly by his Kennedy family endorsements, Obama clearly has the momentum in this campaign," said Bill Schneider, CNN's senior political analyst.
A national "poll of polls" calculated by CNN that averages five national polls found ahead of Obama by two percentage points, 45 percent to 43 percent. Those five surveys were done by CNN/Opinion Research, Gallup, Pew, ABC and CBS.
"We will win the nomination, we will win the general election, and you and I together, we will change this country and we will change the world," Obama said during a rally in New Jersey, where he was introduced by Hollywood star Robert De Niro.
Among Republicans, John McCain is the clear frontrunner in the CNN poll, leading former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney 44 percent to 29 percent. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee placed third in the poll with 18 percent, followed by Texas Congressman Ron Paul at 6 percent. The margin of error in the Republican poll was plus or minus 5 percent.
National poll numbers are one thing, delegates are another. In the two biggest delegate states in the Super Tuesday contest, New York and California, Clinton still seems to be maintaining a small lead against Obama. Clinton leads Obama 46 percent to 38 percent in New York, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center, and also leads Obama slightly in California, according to the Field Poll. Two weeks ago, Clinton had led Obama by double digits in California.
In New York, McCain holds a strong lead over rivals Romney and Huckabee, who are in a statistical dead heat for second place. McCain also leads over Romney 32 percent to 24 percent in Florida, with Huckabee and Paul fighting for second, according to the Field Poll.
In Massachusetts, however, home state Romney continues to hold a sizable lead over McCain according to a 7News/Suffolk University survey. Among Democrats, Obama and Clinton are virtually tied at 46 percent to 44 percent in the Massachusetts poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent. Seven percent of Democrats still polled as undecided, as did six percent of Republican voters.
"Mitt Romney can thank Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul for helping to split the anti-Romney vote in Massachusetts," David Paleologos, director of the Political Research Center at Suffolk University said in a statement. "Without them, this race would be much closer."
Overall, McCain leads in most Super Tuesday state polls, except Massachusetts and Utah, where Romney holds the lead, according to Newsday.com. McCain looks poised to sweep a high majority of the 1,081 Republican delegates up for grabs on Tuesday, which could leave him as the clear choice for the Republican presidential nomination for November.
Written By Ann Turner
The latest national CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll shows Clinton and Obama in an extremely tight race to come out on top on Super Tuesday, when 24 states will choose their presidential candidates. Since Obama's strong win in the South Carolina primary, he has been gaining on Clinton in the national arena, now leading her 49 percent to 46 percent in the CNN poll. The poll has an error margin of 4.5 percent. The same poll conducted in mid-January had Clinton leading Obama by 42 percent to 33 percent.
"Coming out of his overwhelming victory in South Carolina and followed quickly by his Kennedy family endorsements, Obama clearly has the momentum in this campaign," said Bill Schneider, CNN's senior political analyst.
A national "poll of polls" calculated by CNN that averages five national polls found ahead of Obama by two percentage points, 45 percent to 43 percent. Those five surveys were done by CNN/Opinion Research, Gallup, Pew, ABC and CBS.
"We will win the nomination, we will win the general election, and you and I together, we will change this country and we will change the world," Obama said during a rally in New Jersey, where he was introduced by Hollywood star Robert De Niro.
Among Republicans, John McCain is the clear frontrunner in the CNN poll, leading former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney 44 percent to 29 percent. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee placed third in the poll with 18 percent, followed by Texas Congressman Ron Paul at 6 percent. The margin of error in the Republican poll was plus or minus 5 percent.
National poll numbers are one thing, delegates are another. In the two biggest delegate states in the Super Tuesday contest, New York and California, Clinton still seems to be maintaining a small lead against Obama. Clinton leads Obama 46 percent to 38 percent in New York, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center, and also leads Obama slightly in California, according to the Field Poll. Two weeks ago, Clinton had led Obama by double digits in California.
In New York, McCain holds a strong lead over rivals Romney and Huckabee, who are in a statistical dead heat for second place. McCain also leads over Romney 32 percent to 24 percent in Florida, with Huckabee and Paul fighting for second, according to the Field Poll.
In Massachusetts, however, home state Romney continues to hold a sizable lead over McCain according to a 7News/Suffolk University survey. Among Democrats, Obama and Clinton are virtually tied at 46 percent to 44 percent in the Massachusetts poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent. Seven percent of Democrats still polled as undecided, as did six percent of Republican voters.
"Mitt Romney can thank Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul for helping to split the anti-Romney vote in Massachusetts," David Paleologos, director of the Political Research Center at Suffolk University said in a statement. "Without them, this race would be much closer."
Overall, McCain leads in most Super Tuesday state polls, except Massachusetts and Utah, where Romney holds the lead, according to Newsday.com. McCain looks poised to sweep a high majority of the 1,081 Republican delegates up for grabs on Tuesday, which could leave him as the clear choice for the Republican presidential nomination for November.
Written By Ann Turner
Article provided in partnership with GayWebMonkey.com.
