Does Obama Think Polls of Anti-War Sentiment Irrelevant?

(Aug. 7) - New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has significantly widened her lead over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in the wake of a dispute over handling foreign policy, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

The survey, taken Friday through Sunday, puts Clinton at 48% - up 8 percentage points from three weeks ago - and Obama at 26%, down 2 points. Among Democrats and independents who "lean" Democratic, former North Carolina senator John Edwards is at 12%.

The 22-point gap between the two leaders is nearly double the margin found in the July 12-15 poll.

"People are seeing her as the one ready to be president," says Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, a perception he says was "accelerated" by the recent debate.

Bill Burton, Obama's spokesman, dismisses the findings. "National polls may go up and down before people actually start voting, but their irrelevance will not," he says.