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Reuters/Zogby Poll: Obama Gains Among Women, Independents

By Jeralyn

The Reuters/Zogby poll released today has Sen. Barack Obama leading John McCain by 2 points, wiping out McCain's pre-convention lead.

Obama leads McCain among likely voters by 47 percent to 45 percent, within the poll's 3.1 percent margin of error. He gained ground in the last month among independent and women voters and on the question of who could best manage the faltering U.S. economy.

Obama wiped out McCain's 5-point edge in a Reuters/Zogby poll taken in August before the nominating conventions, a sign the Arizona senator could be drifting back to earth from what other opinion polls showed was a post-convention surge.

Sarah Palin isn't helping McCain with anyone except his core base. [More...]

McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, an anti-abortion and pro-gun first-term governor from Alaska, as his No. 2 set off a political firestorm that helped stoke conservative enthusiasm for the Republican ticket.

But Zogby said Palin also helped solidify Democratic support for Obama. "For the last few weeks it's been all about Palin and she has been a divisive force," he said. "She has shored up the base for both candidates."

Sarah Palin, Polarizer in Chief.

Obama, who struggled to solidify Democrats in August when just 74 percent backed him, now has the support of 89 percent of Democrats. McCain's support among Republicans grew from 81 percent last month to 89 percent.

....The Illinois senator wiped out McCain's 5-point August lead among independents and expanded his edge over McCain among women, two crucial swing voting blocs in November.

The Reuters poll shows more Obama support among older voters and Catholic voters and an increase for McCain among suburban and small town voters for McCain.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 17, 2008 (boomark / email).