(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Democrat Barack Obama is leading Republican John McCain in the United States, according to a poll by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research released by National Public Radio. 48 per cent of respondents would vote for the Illinois senator in this year’s presidential election, while 43 per cent would back the Arizona senator.

Support for Obama increased by one point since January, while backing for McCain fell by five points. In a separate match-up, McCain is virtually tied with New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

On May 16, McCain decried Obama’s foreign policy views, saying, "It is a serious error on the part of Obama, that shows naivety and inexperience and lack of judgment, to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country who says that Israel is a stinking corpse. (...) It would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world where we don’t have enemies. That’s not the world we live in. And until Obama understands that reality, the American people have every reason to doubt whether he has strength, judgment and determination to keep up safe."

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

If the election for president were being held today, for whom would you vote if the candidates were John McCain, Republican, and (...), Democrat? (...) Which way do you lean as of today, towards?

McCain v. Obama

McCain v. Rodham Clinton

Source: Public Opinion Strategies / Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research / National Public Radio
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 800 likely American voters, conducted on May 7 and May 8, 2008. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.

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