Obama Gains in Iowa, Florida Give Him National Boost (Update2)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQsSC0B.93YQ&refer=home


By James Rowley and Kristin Jensen

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is ahead in a series of new polls from Florida to Iowa, gains that are helping him maintain a national lead over Republican John McCain.

Obama was on top in seven of 11 new state polls, while McCain claimed the advantage in Alabama, and the two were statistically tied in Georgia, North Carolina and one Ohio poll. The Democrat's edge, on average, is now more than 7 percentage points in national polls, according to realclearpolitics.com.

Obama holds a 12-point lead in Pennsylvania, according to a Muhlenberg College tracking poll of 602 likely voters. That has grown from just 4 points in late September, equal to the survey's margin of error.

In Iowa, a state that President George W. Bush narrowly won four years ago, Obama leads McCain 54 percent to 41 percent, according to a SurveyUSA poll of 692 likely voters conducted Oct. 8-9. Three weeks ago, Obama's lead was 54 percent to 43 percent.

In Colorado, Obama is ahead 52 percent to 42 percent, according to a Public Policy Polling survey of 1,331 likely voters conducted Oct. 8-10. That is up from 7 points three weeks ago.