(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain in the United States presidential race, according to a poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for Democracy Corps. 49 per cent of respondents would vote for the Illinois senator this year, while 45 per cent would support the Arizona senator.

Support for Obama increased by one point since May, while backing for McCain fell by the same margin.

On Jul. 8, McCain discussed his views on fiscal responsibility, saying. "We’re going to restrain spending, we’re going to have the economy grow again and increase revenues. The problem is that spending got completely out of control. (...) We restrain spending. We keep people’s taxes low. We create jobs, and we’ll balance the budget."

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

Now thinking about the presidential election in November: If the election for president were held today and the candidates were Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, for whom would you vote?

Source: Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research / Democracy Corps
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 2,000 likely American voters, conducted from Jun. 22 to Jun. 25, 2008. Margin of error is 2 per cent.

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