Issue Watch
Track global public opinion on current issues.
- 2008: Race for the White House
- 2008: The U.S. Electoral College
- Abortion
- Africa
- Angela Merkel
- Death Penalty
- Economy and Globalization
- Environment
- European Union
- George W. Bush
- Global Warming
- Gordon Brown
- Hamas
- Immigration
- Iran
- Iraq War
- Kevin Rudd
- Latin America
- New Zealand Election 2008
- Nicolas Sarkozy
- North Korea
- Oil and Gas
- Same-Sex Marriage
- Silvio Berlusconi
- Stem Cell Research
- Stephen Harper
- Terrorism
- U.S. Election 2008 - The Democrats
- U.S. Election 2008 - The Republicans
- U.S. Election 2008: The Primaries
- Vladimir Putin
- Yasuo Fukuda
Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
McCain Edging Both Democrats in U.S. Race
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Republican John McCain holds a slight advantage over his Democratic rivals in the United States, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 46 per cent of respondents would vote for the Arizona senator in this year’s presidential election, while 44 per cent would back Illinois senator Barack Obama.
In a separate contest, McCain also holds a two-point lead over New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Yesterday, Obama criticized McCain, saying, "My argument with John McCain is not his biography, it’s his policies. (...) (He) has been saying I don’t understand national security, but he’s the one who wants to keep tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq for as long as a hundred years, even though this war has not made us safer. It may make sense to George Bush and John McCain, but it is the wrong thing to do, it is not right for our national security, it’s not right for our economy, and it’s not right for American leadership around the world."
In American elections, candidates require 270 votes in the Electoral College to win the White House. In November 2004, Republican George W. Bush earned a second term after securing 286 electoral votes from 31 states. Democratic nominee John Kerry received 252 electoral votes from 19 states and the District of Columbia.
Bush is ineligible for a third term in office. The presidential election is scheduled for Nov. 4.
Polling Data
Possible match-ups - 2008 U.S. presidential election
McCain v. Obama
|
|
Mar. 31 |
Mar. 11 |
Feb. 24 |
|
John McCain (R) |
46% |
44% |
48% |
|
Barack Obama (D) |
44% |
46% |
47% |
|
Other |
1% |
1% |
1% |
|
Neither |
4% |
5% |
2% |
|
Not sure |
4% |
4% |
2% |
McCain v. Rodham Clinton
|
Mar. 31 |
Mar. 11 |
Feb. 24 |
|
|
John McCain (R) |
47% |
45% |
50% |
|
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) |
45% |
47% |
46% |
|
Other |
1% |
1% |
1% |
|
Neither |
4% |
4% |
2% |
|
Not sure |
3% |
3% |
1% |
Source: Gallup / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 4,409 registered American voters, conducted from Mar. 27 to Mar. 31, 2008. Margin of error is 2 per cent.