Buckwheat Loses 10-Point Advantage Over McAmnesty Poll Says

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/11/mccain-erases-obamas-edge-in-new-head-to-head-poll/

Poll: Obama Loses 10-Point Advantage Over McCain

Friday, April 11, 2008

WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain has erased Barack Obama's 10-point

advantage in a head-to-head presidential matchup, leaving him essentially

tied with both Democratic candidates, according to a new poll. In a further

boost to McCain, many supporters of Obama and rival Hillary Rodham Clinton

are so strongly divided that they say they would rather vote for him if

their candidate does not get the Democratic nomination, according to the

Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Thursday.

Between the two Democrats, the poll numbers were unchanged from February,

with Obama at 46 percent and Clinton at 43 percent.

However, the intense and extended Democratic primary race has turned off

some Democrats. About a quarter of Obama supporters say they will vote for

McCain if Clinton is the Democratic nominee. About a third of Clinton

supporters say they would vote for McCain if it is Obama.

Obama holds a lead in the race for delegates, and Clinton is hoping to

revive her campaign with a win in the last major primary on April 22 in

Pennsylvania, though it is doubtful she will catch up. Neither candidate

will be able to clinch the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination

without the approval of superdelegates - elected officials and party

insiders who also vote at the party's August convention.

McCain is benefiting from a bounce in the polls since he essentially

clinched the Republican nomination a month ago. The former Vietnam prisoner

of war has slowly moved up in matchups with each of the Democratic

candidates, particularly Obama.

An AP-Ipsos poll taken in late February had Obama leading McCain 51-41

percent. The current survey, conducted April 7-9, had them at 45 percent

each.

Clinton led McCain, 48-43 percent, in February. The latest survey showed the

New York senator with 48 percent support to McCain's 45 percent. Factoring

in the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, Clinton and McCain

are statistically tied.

Against McCain, Obama lost ground among women, - from 57 percent in February

to 47 percent in April. He also lost nine points or more among voters under

35, high-income households, whites, Catholics, independents, Southerners,

people living in the Northeast and those with a high school education or

less.

Obama campaigned Thursday in Indiana, which holds its primary May 6, while

Clinton campaigned in Pennsylvania.

McCain, meanwhile, was in New York, seeking to fend off criticism that he

has been indifferent to the U.S. housing crisis and the weak economy.

The veteran senator said he would help 200,000 to 400,000 homeowners trade

burdensome mortgages for manageable loans in a speech in New York City's

Brooklyn borough. Aides said the plan could cost from $3 billion to $10

billion.

Still missing from his plan were details on exactly who would be eligible

for help; McCain said he wants to aid those who borrowed sensibly but now

cannot handle their mortgages.

"There is nothing more important than keeping alive the American dream to

own your home," McCain said in a speech before joining in a round-table

discussion at a Brooklyn window company.

President George W. Bush's administration and both parties in Congress also

are proposing varying degrees of federal help for burdened homeowners.

McCain's plan falls in the middle; he would help at least twice as many

homeowners as Bush and fewer than half as many as congressional Democrats.

In proposing specific aid, McCain struck a different tone than he did in a

speech last month. Then, McCain said he opposed aggressive intervention by

the government to solve the crisis and that he preferred only limited

intervention and letting market forces play out.

Obama, who was reiterating his call for a second $30 billion stimulus

package, said McCain's plan offers little in the way of solutions. Clinton

called McCain's latest plan a halfhearted version of her own efforts.

The AP-Ipsos poll questioned 1,005 adults nationally. Included were

interviews with 489 Democratic voters and people leaning Democratic, with a

margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 points; and 369 Republicans or

Republican-leaning voters, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus

5.1 points.