NBC/WSJ poll: Obama increases lead
Posted: Monday, October 06, 2008 6:39 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Joe Biden, Sarah Palin
From NBC's Mark Murray
Fueled in part by the candidates' responses to the current economic crisis -- as well as their performances at the first debates -- Obama has increased his national lead over McCain, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Obama is ahead of McCain by six points, 49-43 percent, which equals his biggest lead in this poll. Two weeks ago, the Democratic nominee held a two-point advantage over his Republican counterpart, 48-46 percent.
Voters, the survey finds, believe Obama responded to the crisis more effectively than McCain did. Thirty-four percent say they felt more reassured by Obama's approach, versus 29 percent who said they felt less reassured. That's compared with just 25 percent who were reassured by McCain's response, versus 38 percent who were less reassured.
The poll also comes after the first presidential and vice-presidential debates. While analysts and pundits might disagree over the performances, the survey finds that there was a clear winner among voters: Obama-Biden. By a 50-29 percent margin, respondents say Obama and Biden bested their GOP opponents at the debates.
In particular, Biden saw his poll numbers rise after his debate against Alaska Palin. Two weeks ago, 64 percent said that the Delaware senator was qualified to be president if the need arises. The number has now jumped to 74 percent. By comparison, just 41 believe that Palin is qualified to be president, which is virtually unchanged from the last survey.
Read the full story here.
