Sep 18, 2008 5:35 pm US/Eastern
McCain Opens 6 Point Lead In New CBS4 Poll
McCain Builds Lead In Northern Florida; Obama Ahead In Southeast Part Of The State
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
-
-
Presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama, and Sen. John McCain.
Justin Sullivan, Robert Spencer/Getty Images
A new
CBS4/SurveyUSA poll shows Republican presidential nominee John McCain leads Democratic rival Barack Obama by 6 points in the battleground state of Florida.
51 percent of those surveyed statewide said they would vote for McCain, compared to Obama's 45 percent. The lead is outside the margin of error for the poll, which was +/- 3.8 percent.
The news looks even more ominous for Senator Obama when the state is broken down by region. Senator Obama is carrying southeast Florida, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. But, the race is a tie in central Florida, and in all of the other regions of the state, McCain is carrying a comfortable lead.
SurveyUsa reported that in northwest Florida, McCain had led by 14 points in a similar poll conducted six weeks ago. Today, McCain has built that lead to 41 points. The numbers for McCain get even better in northeast Florida, where McCain's lead has exploded from 8 points to 46 points.
But, McCain has lost ground among female voters in Florida, even after choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate.
The poll, which was conducted on Monday and Tuesday, showed voters who tended to focus on the economy went for Senator Obama 5 to 4. But, for voters who tended to focus on terrorism, McCain had an 11 to 1 advantage over Obama.
Part of McCain's lead comes from his lead among white and Hispanic voters. Among whites, McCain has a 15-point lead. He also enjoys a 19-point lead among Hispanics.
There is still some uncertainty among voters, 47 percent of those who said they would vote for McCain said they could change their mind before the election. 34 percent of people those who support Obama now, indicated they too could change their opinion.
Click here for a graphical representation of the search results. If you'd like to read the methodology for the new survey,
click here.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Burned Teen's Family Staying Positive
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
