WASHINGTON: With just three weeks left for the US presidential elections, Democrat Barack Obama has opened a 6-point lead over Republican rival John McCain, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday. To add to their woes, Republican leaders are becoming increasingly worried about John McCain chances of making it to the White House unless he settles on a clear message to counter Obama, a media report said on Sunday.
Obama leads McCain by 49% to 43% among likely US voters in the latest four-day tracking poll, his widest lead since the poll was started on Tuesday. Pollster John Zogby said Obama's lead was now statistically significant.
The poll showed Obama gaining traction among independent voters who now back him by a 21-point margin. Among women, the Illinois senator held a solid 12-point lead, while the two candidates were tied among male voters at 45% apiece. Obama has widened his lead as weeks of economic turmoil shook financial markets, causing stock markets to plunge and fuelling voter concern over pocketbook issues.
McCain had a 10-point lead among white voters, while Obama, who would be the first black US president, won the support of 92% of black voters, one of the Democratic Party's most loyal constituencies.
As the Palin scandal rocks Republicans, several party leaders say that while they believed that McCain could win over voters, they were concerned that he and his advisers seemed adrift in dealing with an extraordinary challenging political battleground and a crisis on the Wall Street, The New York Times reported. The report follows an Alaska ethics panels revelation that Governor Sarah Palin, the running mate of McCain, abused her power in seeking to get her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper.
The panels findings released on Friday night dealt a significant blow to the embattled Republican ticket with Mccain struggling to hold ground against Obama in the run-up to the polls.
