Obama’s Remains Ahead in Key Swing States

Sara Murray reports on the presidential race. The gap between John McCain and Barack Obama in major battleground states is shrinking, but Obama still has the lead, particularly in all-important Pennsylvania. A new Quinnipiac University Polling Institute survey puts Obama ahead 47% to 45% in Florida, the same as last week and within the poll’s margin of error. McCain made slight gains in Ohio but the poll still shows voters favoring Obama 50% to 43%. Obama led by nine points last week. In Pennsylvania, a state that has recently been touted as a must-win for McCain, Obama leads 52% to 42%. The Illinois senator was ahead there by 12 points last week. It would be nearly impossible for McCain to win without Ohio and Florida, but even those states aren’t enough to put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win. He’d likely have to swing either Pennsylvania or Virginia to his column to seal a victory. The McCain campaign has expressed optimism recently about tightening ... (link)