Poll: Obama gains in key swing counties

Poll: Obama gains in key swing counties
By ALEXANDER BURNS | 10/21/08 4:45 AM EDT Text Size:

Barack Obama has made new gains in two key counties that could tip the balance in the swing states of Nevada and North Carolina.

Sen. Barack Obama has made new gains in two key counties that could tip the balance in the swing states of Nevada and North Carolina, according to the results of a new Politico/InsiderAdvantage poll.

Voters in Reno, Nevada’s Washoe County prefer Obama over Sen. John McCain by a double-digit margin, 50 percent to 40 percent. A previous Politico/Insider Advantage survey, taken October 9, showed the race deadlocked in Washoe with Obama ahead of McCain, 46 percent to 45 percent.

In Wake County, N.C., home to Raleigh and its suburbs, Obama leads McCain by nine points, 52 percent to 43 percent. As in Washoe, this new result represents a turn toward the Democratic nominee: Politico’s last survey of Wake County Oct. 9 had Obama on top by 6 points, 50 percent to 44 percent.

President George W. Bush won both these counties in 2000 and 2004. In his second presidential bid, Bush won Wake by a thin, 51 percent to 49 percent margin, and bested Sen. John F. Kerry in Washoe, 51 percent to 47 percent. As the second-most populous counties in their respective states, Wake and Washoe are critical to McCain’s chances.

Despite Obama’s lead in these areas, both Nevada and North Carolina remain competitive at the statewide level according to the new Politico/InsiderAdvantage poll.

According to the survey, McCain and Obama are tied at 47 percent in Nevada. Obama posts a statistically insignificant one-point lead in North Carolina, where he is ahead of McCain, 49 percent to 48 percent.

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