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Poll shows McCain gaining ground in Florida
Orlando Sentinel poll indicates presidential race in battle ground state remains a tossup
Jim Stratton
Issue date: 10/23/08 Section: World News
ORLANDO, Fla. (MCT) - With less than two weeks until Election Day, a new Orlando Sentinel poll indicates the presidential race in Florida is still a tossup but hints that Republican Sen. John McCain may be gaining the traction he desperately needs.
The poll, by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, shows McCain leading Sen. Barack Obama 46 percent to 45 percent. With a margin of error of four percentage points, that's a dead heat. Pollsters interviewed 625 likely voters from Oct. 20-21.
The numbers represent a three-point shift from early this month when Obama held a two-point edge over the Arizona senator. It is the first time since August that Mason-Dixon had McCain in the lead.
Perhaps most significantly, the new poll shows McCain leading Obama 47-44 in the Tampa Bay area. In early October, Obama had a four-point advantage there.
The seven-point swing comes in a five-county region that is a political barometer for the rest of the state. In the past eight years, results from Tampa Bay have predicted final statewide totals within one or two percentage points.
"That's the one place where we really saw some movement," said pollster Brad Coker. "The fact that he's gone from a little bit down there to a little bit up is a small positive change for McCain."
But Coker said the campaign shouldn't read too much into the progress.
"The fact that McCain is still fighting for Florida this late in the game certainly isn't good news for him."
Obama leads by wide margins in Southeast Florida, helped by the large number of Jewish, black and non-Cuban Hispanic voters. McCain is cruising in the northern and southwestern parts of the states _ areas thick with old-school Southern Democrats, military voters and affluent retirees.
In Central Florida - a nine-county region that includes the Orlando area - McCain is up 53-39.
Coker attributes McCain's movement to his recent attempts to paint Obama as a candidate who would take money from the wealthy and redistribute it down the financial food chain.
The poll, by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, shows McCain leading Sen. Barack Obama 46 percent to 45 percent. With a margin of error of four percentage points, that's a dead heat. Pollsters interviewed 625 likely voters from Oct. 20-21.
The numbers represent a three-point shift from early this month when Obama held a two-point edge over the Arizona senator. It is the first time since August that Mason-Dixon had McCain in the lead.
Perhaps most significantly, the new poll shows McCain leading Obama 47-44 in the Tampa Bay area. In early October, Obama had a four-point advantage there.
The seven-point swing comes in a five-county region that is a political barometer for the rest of the state. In the past eight years, results from Tampa Bay have predicted final statewide totals within one or two percentage points.
"That's the one place where we really saw some movement," said pollster Brad Coker. "The fact that he's gone from a little bit down there to a little bit up is a small positive change for McCain."
But Coker said the campaign shouldn't read too much into the progress.
"The fact that McCain is still fighting for Florida this late in the game certainly isn't good news for him."
Obama leads by wide margins in Southeast Florida, helped by the large number of Jewish, black and non-Cuban Hispanic voters. McCain is cruising in the northern and southwestern parts of the states _ areas thick with old-school Southern Democrats, military voters and affluent retirees.
In Central Florida - a nine-county region that includes the Orlando area - McCain is up 53-39.
Coker attributes McCain's movement to his recent attempts to paint Obama as a candidate who would take money from the wealthy and redistribute it down the financial food chain.
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