Virginia: Obama Keeps Gaining Ground

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Virginia: Obama Keeps Gaining Ground in State that Has Voted GOP for Forty Years

June 16, 2008 Email to a Friend
Barack Obama continues to gain ground on John McCain in Virginia, for the first time edging ahead of his Republican opponent for the presidency in a state Democrats are increasingly hopeful of peeling away from the GOP.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Virginia voters finds Obama with a statistically insignificant one-percentage point lead over McCain, 45% to 44%. Five percent (5%) favor a third-party candidate, and 7% are undecided. Last month, with Hillary Clinton still in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, McCain led Obama 47% to 44%. (See Video)

This marks the fourth time in five polls that the two candidates have been within five points of each other in Virginia, confirming the state’s competitive status. The one exception came in March, at the height of the initial Jeremiah Wright coverage, when McCain was up by eleven points.

McCain has lost ground among both male voters over the past month. He leads Obama among men 49% to 41%, but a month earlier his lead was nearly twice that size (15%). Women voters currently favor Obama 48% to 39%, little changed from a month ago.

http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/virginia/election_2008_virginia_presidential_election