McCain takes 5-point lead in Reuters poll

August 20th, 2008 at 06:39pm Pat Cunningham

(NOTE: This post from early this morning has been bumped up to gain wider readership of updates based on data released later in the day.)

A new Zogby poll commissioned by the British wire service Reuters SHOWS John McCain with a lead of 5 percentage points over Barack Obama.

The poll, which was conducted Thursday through Saturday, has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Perhaps the most surprising element of the survey is McCain’s 9-point lead on the question of which candidate can better handle the economy.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg POLL conducted Friday through Monday has Obama up by 2 points, which is within the margin of error.

UPDATE: The latest Gallup and Rasmussen daily tracking polls have Obama up by one point, which is tantamount to a dead heat.

UPDATE II: A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released tonight SHOWS Obama leading by three points.

UPDATE III: Here’s why Obama’s still in pretty good shape, even taking into account the new polls released today in which McCain is said to have gained ground:

If we give McCain all the electoral votes from the states where he’s running strongly, and all the electoral votes from the states that are only leaning his way, and two-thirds of the electoral votes from the states considered toss-ups at this time — and even one-third of the electoral votes from states that currently are leaning toward Obama — McCain still loses the election.

Remember, folks, the electoral votes are what count, not the national polls. Ask Al Gore about that.

UPDATE IV: The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll also SHOWS that voters, by a six-to-one margin, see McCain as the more negative campaigner.

This relates to a POST I had earlier today on “The smear gap,” and ANOTHER ONE on lame excuses for McCain’s negative campaign.

UPDATE V: There’s also a new CBS/New York Times poll out tonight, and it SHOWS Obama up by three points.

Entry Filed under: John McCain, Barack Obama