Ohio voters, wrong only twice when picking the president in the last 108 years, remain nearly split over their choice for the White House, according to a new Ohio Newspaper Poll.
But while the race remains a statistical dead heat, more voters are siding with Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who has erased Republican Sen. John McCain's previous lead in the Buckeye State and now holds a 3-point advantage, 49 percent to 46 percent.
The poll, when compared with the two previous Ohio Newspaper Polls, suggests the Illinois senator has momentum on his side.
The latest poll of 886 likely voters, conducted Oct. 18-22, also asked Ohioans their views on the Iraq war and national security, issues where McCain holds an advantage. But with the economic crisis eclipsing all other issues, especially in Ohio, Obama has been able to keep the race focused on pocketbook issues, to his benefit.
The poll shows that support for Obama has increased by 7 percentage points since the first poll was taken in mid-September. McCain's support has declined by 2 percentage points since then, and he has lost ground with white voters and with men.
The polls were conducted by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati and have a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.
Eric Rademacher, interim co-director of the institute, says that Obama has an edge but that the highly charged race and partisan electorate make the contest similar to the unpredictable one four years ago.
"It is very possible that 2008 could be a repeat of 2004, when the race for Ohio was decided by just 2 percentage points," he said.http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/10/ohio_poll.htmlOH more than any other battleground should want nothing to do with another Repuke
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