Polls Show John McCain Ahead Nationally, Leading Democrats in Ohio and Florida

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 17, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Polls Show John McCain Ahead Nationally, Leading Democrats in Ohio and Florida Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 17
, 2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The polls continue to be good to John McCain and he may be benefiting from a Democratic primary race that is growing increasingly negative and appears to have no end in sight. New surveys show McCain leading nationally and have him head in the crucial battleground states of Ohio and Florida.

The survey results in those two states follow on polls from last week showing him leading in Michigan and Pennsylvania, two other states that could decide the election in November.

According to a new Rasmussen tracking poll released Sunday, McCain leads pro-abortion candidate Barack Obama 47-43 nationwide with 10 percent of voters undecided. He’s ahead of Hillary Clinton 46-43 percent with 11 percent undecided.

A new Gallup tracking poll shows similar results, with McCain topping Obama 47-44 percent but tied with Clinton at 46 percent apiece.

Looking at the battleground states, Rasmussen’s poll of Florida voters released on Sunday has McCain leading Obama 47-43 percent and further ahead of Clinton at 47-40 percent.

And in Ohio, Rasmussen shows McCain leading Obama 46 to 40 percent with 14 percent undecided. He is in front of Clinton by the same percentages.

Polls of voters from California, New York, and Connecticut released over the weekend show the Democratic candidates winning, but those are states that have gone Democrat in the last presidential elections.

Meanwhile, a poll from the University of Central Arkansas points to an interesting phenomenon.

While McCain leads Obama there by a healthy 16 percent margin, he trails Clinton 51 to 36 percent in the state where her husband was the former governor and attorney general. That could make the souther state, which typically votes Republican, a key target if Clinton becomes the nominee.

Last week, a survey by the Strategic Vision polling firm found McCain leading Clinton in Pennsylvania by a 48-42 percentage point margin and ahead of Obama 47-44.

Rasmussen has the race closer with McCain ahead of Clinton 46-44 and ahead of Obama 46-43 while a Susquehanna poll shows McCain leading Obama 45-41 but trailing Clinton 47-44.

In Michigan, Rasmussen has McCain leading Obama 44-41 and ahead of Clinton 46-43.

Should McCain go on to win both states, which went for John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000, the victories would make it very likely he would win the presidency as long as he can hold on the traditional Republican base in southern and western states.