Poll: Obama Tops McCain in 4 Battleground States

Barack Obama is leading by varying margins in the four battleground states of Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Colorado, according to a Quinnipiac University poll out Thursday done in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

The largest gap exists with 17 percent, 54-37, of Minnesota’s 1,572 like voters preferring Obama over Republican John McCain. The margin of error was 2.5 percent.

In Michigan, 1,411 likely voters put Obama over McCain 48-42 percent, with a margin of error of 2.6 percent.

In Wisconsin, 1,537 likely voters gave Obama a 52-39 advantage over McCain, with a margin of error of 2.5 percent.

In Colorado, 1,351 likely voters gave Obama a 5 point lead over McCain, 49-44, with a margin of error of 2.7 percent.

The vital vote by independents gave Obama an even greater edge of eight to 21 points in each key state, the poll reports. The smallest deficit among independents exists in Michigan and the largest in Minnesota.

The poll found independents continue to reject the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket by 16 to 29 percentage points.

McCain’s lead among white voters in Colorado and Michigan is credited with pulling down Obama’s lead in those states to single digits, the poll found.

“November can’t get here soon enough for Sen. Barack Obama. He has a lead everywhere, and if nothing changes between now and November he will make history,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. However, “his lead nationally, and double digits in some key states, is not hugely different from where Sen. John Kerry stood four years ago at this point in the campaign.”