Democrat Barack Obama has opened a six-point lead over Republican John McCain one day before the White House rivals meet in their final debate, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released this morning.
Mr Obama leads Mr McCain 49 per cent to 43 per cent among likely US voters in the latest four-day tracking poll, up slightly from Mr Obama's four-point advantage yesterday. The poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
"Clearly it was another bad day for John McCain," pollster John Zogby said. "With three weeks to go, it's safe to say he doesn't have much time to turn this around."
Mr Obama opened up a formidable 17-point advantage among independents and maintained a solid 11-point lead among women, two key swing voting blocs in the November 4th presidential election.
Mr Obama also holds a narrow lead among men, expanded his lead with Catholics and Hispanics and leads Mr McCain among voters in every age group, including voters above the age of 65 who had been among his strongest supporters.
Mr McCain (72), has a shrinking 11-point lead among whites and a small lead among high-income workers. "McCain is losing ground with the groups that are supposed to be in his pocket and with the ones he should be competitive with," Mr Zogby said.
Mr Obama surged into a lead in the race after weeks of economic turmoil that led to a sharp plunge in the stock market last week and a $700 billion government bailout of US financial institutions.
His gains came despite a week of attacks by Mr McCain's campaign on Mr Obama's character and judgment, including his service on a community board in Chicago with former 1960s radical William Ayers.
Mr McCain, an Arizona senator, backed away from the attacks over the weekend and adopted the role of a feisty underdog who will battle for voters.
But Mr Zogby said the earlier negativity had eroded some of Mr McCain's image with independents and moderates. "His message has been clouded by all the shouting," he said.
The poll, conducted Friday through Monday, showed independent Ralph Nader with two per cent. Libertarian Bob Barr and Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party registered one per cent each.
Four per cent of voters said they were still undecided.
The rolling tracking poll surveyed 1,208 likely voters in the presidential election. In a tracking poll, the most recent day's results are added while the oldest day's results are dropped in an effort to track changing momentum.
Mr McCain and Mr Obama are battling for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
Reuters