A Gallup daily tracking poll released Tuesday shows Democrat Barack Obama topping 50 percent support for the first time, adding to a lead that has been growing since his speech Thursday accepting the nomination at Denver’s Invesco Field. Other polls tracking the presidential race over the weekend tally an Obama lead over John McCain by as many as 9 points, up from a virtual dead heat as the Democratic National Convention began last week.
Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1, finds Barack Obama leading the race for president with his highest share of support to date. Fully half of national registered voters now favor Obama for president, while 42 percent back John McCain.
Tuesday’s daily Rasmussen tracking poll shows a 5-point lead for Obama — expanding to 6 points when leaners are included — up from dead even a week ago.
Daily tracking yields notoriously fickle results — subject to the whims of voters buoyed by transient news that might not leave a lasting impression — but other polls released this week show similar results for Obama.
A Hotline-Diageo poll displayed the widest spread, with Obama leading 48-39, up from 44-40 a week ago. A CBS News survey released Monday finds a decided post-DNC bounce for Obama, who leads 48-40, up from a 3-point lead a week earlier. TPM’s Greg Sargent digs into the details of the CBS poll results:
• Obama has taken a six-point lead among independents, 43%-37%, up from a 12-point deficit.
• Obama’s lead among women has jumped to 14 points, 50%-36%, and a leap in enthusiasm among his supporters.
• Though there has been no change in the number who say he’s prepared for the job, fewer say he isn’t prepared — a key McCain attack line.
• And here’s a key number: Fifty-eight percent say Obama is “tough enough,” a jump of 10 points since early August, suggesting that Obama’s speech, which was dense with specific and pointed attacks on McCain, may have worked in that it displayed a willingness to take the fight to his opponent in a more serious and sustained way that many voters had previously seen.
Public opinion junkies can keep track of presidential polls at Pollster.com’s Obama-McCain matchup page, which includes the latest numbers and an aggregate chart displaying weighted averages among all the polls. On Tuesday afternoon, the aggregate showed Obama beating McCain 48.8-43.6, up sharply from a few weeks ago.
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