Indiana Poll: Obama Ahead by 5, But It's McCain's State
A new poll from the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne shows that Sen. Barack Obama has a five-point lead on Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Indiana Democratic primary. But the Indianapolis Star reports that when it comes to the fall election, Indiana remains safely Republican, with GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain holding solid leads over both Democrats.
The polls showed Obama leading Clinton 50 percent to 45 percent, with 5 percent undecided. But the polls +/- of 4.5 % means it's still a close race and could break either way. Meanwhile, McCain continues to do well in the state.
No Democratic presidential nominee has carried Indiana since Lyndon B. Johnson did in 1964, and the poll showed that either Obama or Clinton would have an uphill battle against the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain.McCain led Obama 51 percent to 44 percent and led Clinton 53 percent to 42 percent, with 5 percent undecided in each case.
The poll also shows that if Clinton picked Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana as her running mate, it wouldn't help much.
"Only 4 percent of Hoosiers would switch from McCain to Clinton if Bayh were chosen as her running mate, and some of this gain would be lost by the 2 percent of Clinton supporters who would switch to McCain," the Downs Center said in its analysis of the results.
6:42 AM ET | 04-19-2008 | permalink
