Poll: Obama's lead over Clinton all but evaporated

[Tarc]

Looks like the crown has a bit of a tilt this morning.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama's big national lead over Hillary Clinton has all but evaporated in the U.S. presidential race, and both Democrats trail Republican John McCain, according a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

The poll showed Obama had only a statistically insignificant lead of 47 percent to 44 percent over Clinton, down sharply from a 14 point edge he held over her in February when he was riding the tide of 10 straight victories.

Illinois Sen. Obama, who would be America's first black president, has been buffeted by attacks in recent weeks from New York Sen. Clinton over his fitness to serve as commander-in-chief and by a tempest over racially charged sermons given by his Chicago preacher.

The poll showed Arizona Sen. McCain, who has clinched the Republican presidential nomination, is benefiting from the lengthy campaign battle between Obama and Clinton, who are now battling to win Pennsylvania on April 22.

McCain leads 46 percent to 40 percent in a hypothetical matchup against Obama in the November presidential election, according to the poll.

That is a sharp turnaround from the Reuters/Zogby poll from last month, which showed in a head-to-head matchup that Obama would beat McCain 47 percent to 40 percent.

"The last couple of weeks have taken a toll on Obama and in a general election match-up, on both Democrats," said pollster John Zogby.

Matched up against Clinton, McCain leads 48 percent to 40 percent, narrower than his 50 to 38 percent advantage over her in February.

"It's not surprising to me that McCain's on top because there is disarray and confusion on the Democratic side," Zogby said

Obama gave a speech on Tuesday rebuking his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for sermons sometimes laced with inflammatory tirades but said he could not disown him and it was time for Americans to bind the country's racial wounds.

The poll showed Obama continues to have strong support from the African-American community but that he is experiencing some slippage among moderates and independents.

Among independents, McCain led for the first time in the poll, 46 percent to 36 percent over Obama.

He was behind McCain by 21 percent among white voters.

Zogby attributed this to a combination of the fallout from Clinton's victory in Ohio earlier this month and the controversy over Wright's sermons.

"And, just the closer he gets to the nomination, the tougher questions whites ask about an African-American candidate," Zogby said.

The March 13-14 poll surveyed 525 likely Democratic primary voters for the matchup between Clinton and Obama. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

For the matchup between McCain and his Democratic rivals, 1004 likely voters were surveyed. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

- http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080319/pl_nm/usa_politics_poll_dc

[NightWatcher]

1. gee the poll is from the Wright-Hate gate....wait till the poll show this week's speeches

I am so sick of polls

[2rth2pwr]

2. If Obama would do the right thing and step down

we could unify this party and beat McCain.

[Terran]

3. LOL!

And he would do that why...?? "It's the math, stupid."

[tridim]

5. Should all the #1 seeds in the NCAA tournament forfeit now?

By your logic they should. :eyes:

[otohara]

7. That Would Be A First

the person who is winning and is projected to win in the end, just gave up and turned over to the losing challenger. Unless Obama comes down with a terminal illness or is rocked by scandal - I just don't see this as a possibility.

[Megahurtz]

11. Oh please.

Maybe Hillary should do the right thing and step down. Holy crap. :eyes:

[Mooney]

19. If HRC can lose 11 straight contests and not have to drop out

despite losing the popular votem the delegate count and number of states won, why should Obama drop out after having a bad weekend?

[C_U_L8R]

4. Obama is gaining delegates

and that's how it works.

[Tarc]

6. Delegates are a fickle bunch

They started trickling his way once the wind streak kept going. But that that has snapped, and now his messy relations with Wright are all over the airwaves, those delegates have good reason to pause and reconsider their sentiments.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Wright is old news. Coming together to defeat McCain and the repukes is the now.

The losing Clinton campaign is like a crab at the bottom of the boiling pot of water. Time to stick a fork in it because it is done.

[Tarc]

10. Heh, old news? You wish, O-Bot

As much as you "hope" that the coverage of the Wright controversy will "change", it isn't going away anytime soon.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. You seem to miss the Kucinich avatar but some Hillary supporters are so zombified

to what is going on around them that they are blinded to reality, and are reduced to behaving like little name-calling children with nothing intelligent to say. Nyah nyah. :eyes:

Sorry but the math has the final say as much as you wish it didn't.

[desi]

14. Obama's lies will never get old...

First he says:

"The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation."

Then, when the shit hits the fan and he has to come clean:

"Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes."

Of course his brain-dead supporters will parse those two statements and find some way to wiggle him out of his dishonesty. I guess they'll pick and choose what he heard and what he didn't hear.

"Controversial" ??? How about racist, inflammatory Anti-American hate speech...

[Liberal Gramma]

15. Geez

How many of you people do I have to put on ignore??

[2rth2pwr]

16. What's the population of the United States?

[desi]

18. Geez, Truth kicks ass doesn't it?

It lays waste to LIES, rhetoric, innuendo, hyperbole, etc etc, etc.

[Qutzupalotl]

17. Of course anyone who thinks about it can see that they are not contradictory.

Was he in church when the pastor said "God damn America"? NO.

Has he heard other controversial remarks? YES.

But thanks for insulting everyone's intelligence.

[goletian]

23. let me explain, desi...

"The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation."

"Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes."

the first statement is limited to specific comments that are the cause of this controversy, the second speaks in much broader terms, addressing everything said by the pastor while obama was present.

citing differences between people of different races, to address racial inequalities, is not racist. citing foreign policy as it relates to the 911 attacks is not anti american, it is a surrender to reality. inflammatory, sure - ill give you that one. even i give you more credit than this, desi. do you really buy this stuff youve written?

[question everything]

12. Delegates, like electoral college go against the will of the people

Remember Bush vs. Gore?

And now we have Nevada, and Texas, and perhaps other states, where Clinton won the popular votes but Obama won the delegates, based on a byzantine math that gave blacks more votes delegates per voters than Hispanics.

And then the very undemocratic caucuses and Obama's strength coming from Independent and Republicans - when they were allowed to vote - while Clinton's - from solid Democrats.

[kwenu]

8. The quicker Hillary comes to terms with the fact that she will not win in pledged delegates...

and drops out, the faster Obama will be restored to the lead. It is fantasy to think SDs are going to overturn pledged delegates. Hillary lost. Get behind your nominee.

[knixphan]

13. damn right.

[demokatgurrl]

21. The McCain lead was the most disturbing thing-

I think there is definitely racism at play. And the Repubs have only begun on Faux et al. to swiftboat Obama. I hope he can fight back. He may have come from Chicago, but national politics is a snakepit unlike any he's seen before.

[marshall]

24. This is like doing a Bush/Kerry or a Bush/Gore poll

What difference does it make when it's over with? The majority of the primaries have been held and Hillary can't catch up. She'll never get to the point (in this election) of beating McCain.