Obama Ahead In 2 Battleground States; Race Virtually Tied In Ohio

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is ahead of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in two of three swing states, a new CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corp. poll says.

The Democratic nominee leads 55-40 percent in Iowa, where Obama won the first contest of the primary season in January. In a five-man race including third-party candidates, Obama leads McCain 51-38 percent. Independent Ralph Nader has 4 percent, Libertarian Bob Barr 3 percent, and Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney 2 percent.

In Minnesota, the origin of GOP attacks this week and where McCain will be accepting the nomination on Thursday, Obama has a 12-point advantage against the Arizona senator. He similarly gains a wider lead, 14 points, if the three other candidates are taken into account.

The race in Ohio, however, is statistically tied, with the freshman Illinois senator ahead by only two points, 47-45 percent. The Buckeye State, which has 20 electoral votes, has voted for the winner in every election except two instances since 1892.

"In Iowa and Minnesota, white voters are backing Obama. In Ohio, white voters are supporting McCain. What about those blue-collar white voters that were so important for Clinton in Ohio? They're pretty solidly for McCain," CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said in a report.

The poll was conducted on Aug. 31-Sept.2 among 828 registered Iowa voters, 724 registered Minnesota voters and 685 registered Ohio voters. The margin of error is 3.5 percent for all states.