McCain erodes Obama lead in three big states

Original Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/McCain_erodes_Obama_lead_in_three_big_states_polls_/articleshow/3311763.cms

Republican John McCain is gaining on White House rival Barack Obama in the pivotal swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Quinnipiac University polls released on Thursday.

The Connecticut university said Obama had seemingly gained no traction from a much-hyped foreign tour last week that was designed to flag his credentials to serve as commander-in-chief. "The $64,000 question is whether Senator John McCain's surge is a result of Senator Obama's much-publicised Middle Eastern and European trip, or just a coincidence that it occurred while Senator Obama was abroad," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"While Obama was on tour, trying to show voters he could handle world affairs, voters were home trying to fill their gas tanks," he said. In Florida, according to the survey, Obama has 46 per cent to McCain's 44 per cent, compared to a 47-43 edge for the Democrat in mid-June.

The numbers were the same in Ohio, 46-44 per cent for Obama, from a 48-42 lead last time. In Pennsylvania, Obama has a slightly bigger lead of 49-42 per cent, compared to 52-40 per cent last month. As Quinnipiac noted, no candidate has been elected president since 1960 without taking two of these three largest swing states in the US electoral college.