He edges further ahead as more independents, women join his camp
Mr Obama boosted his advantage among independents to 13 points from nine, and his lead among women grew to nine points from seven. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON: Republican candidate John McCain had to confront more bad news yesterday, with latest polls showing more women and independents favouring his Democrat rival.
He was also lagging behind Senator Barack Obama in several states that were won by George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.
Mr Obama has built a four-point lead over Mr McCain in the race for the White House, aided by growing support from women and independent voters, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released yesterday.
Mr Obama led Mr McCain 48 per cent to 44 per cent among likely voters, based on the national poll. This represents a 2 percentage point gain over his lead on Wednesday.
Mr Obama is also seen to be leading in key states in a Gallup Poll daily tracking survey released on Wednesday. It showed him expanding his lead over Mr McCain to 11 percentage points.
But pollster John Zogby said the race is still too close to call and voters might not decide till the very last weekend if they like or distrust Mr Obama.
'Obama seems to be doing well among the groups that he really needs, like women and independents,' Mr Zogby said.
Mr Obama boosted his advantage among independents to 13 points from nine, and his lead among women grew to nine points from seven. He moved slightly ahead of Mr McCain among Roman Catholic voters, and now leads or is even with Mr McCain in all age groups except those above 70.
Yet, Mr Zogby told The Boston Herald: 'I don't think Obama has closed the deal yet.'
He also remarked that Mr McCain needs to do much better among women and independents.
Mr McCain - a former Navy fighter pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war who has focused on security issues - was running even with Mr Obama only among families with a member in the military.
'That is not a good sign for McCain,' Mr Zogby said.
His tracking poll, which will sample public opinion until the Nov 4 election, was taken from Monday through Wednesday. About one-third of the survey was conducted after Tuesday night's second debate, which featured sharp exchanges on the economic crisis.
Mr McCain had hoped the debate would help him reshape a race that has been trending towards Mr Obama, but Mr Zogby said the one-day sample taken after the debate had shown about a six- point advantage for Mr Obama.
'McCain did not help himself in the debate; that's pretty clear,' Mr Zogby said.
The latest polls show that Mr McCain trails Mr Obama in Florida, Virginia, Iowa, Nevada and Colorado - all states that President George Bush won over in his surge to re-election in 2004.
The Arizona senator is also locked in a closer-than-expected struggle with his rival in North Carolina, normally a solidly Republican state, where Mr Bush coasted to a double-digit win over Mr John Kerry.
While clinging on in the 'Bush states', Mr McCain also trails in polls in vital swing states Ohio and Pennsylvania - crucial to any candidate hoping to sway the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the final victory.
'McCain is playing a strategy of defence to protect those states that Bush won in 2004,' said Professor Dante Scala, who teaches political science at the University of New Hampshire. 'There seem to be all sorts of leaks in the boat.'
In contrast, Mr Obama looks strong in 'Kerry states', so if the race stays steady until next month, he might have a choice of targets that would take him over the electoral vote threshold.
Mr McCain enlisted the help of his vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin - a heroine to the Republican conservative base - to try to fire up support on Wednesday in Pennsylvania and Ohio. But it was Mrs Palin's one-day blitz in conservative strongholds in Florida earlier this week that caught the Obama campaign's eye.
'What is very clear is that they are not playing offence right now,' senior strategist David Axelrod told reporters on Mr Obama's plane on Tuesday. 'They are playing defence. We are competitive in many, many states that George W. Bush won in 2004 and they are having to defend those states.'
Already trailing in the polls, Mr McCain saw his plight deepen last week when he pulled out of Michigan. The Republicans had hoped to recapture the state, taken by the Democrats in 2004.
Nevertheless, the McCain campaign is stressing that the only poll that counts is the election on Nov 4.
'Nobody has voted yet,' said McCain adviser Nicolle Wallace on CNN on Tuesday.
