TALLAHASSEE — With both presidential candidates making final appearances today in Florida, polls are showing the state is too close to call.
A poll released this morning by Quinnipiac University gives Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama a razor-thin 47-45 lead over Republican John McCain in Florida, but impressive leads in the other key swing states of Ohio, (50-43) and Pennsylvania, (52-42.)
Despite a massive advertising campaign, Obama’s Florida lead remains unchanged since Oct. 29.
“Sen. Obama appears headed for the best showing of any Democratic candidate among white voters in a generation, going back at least to Jimmy Carter in 1976 and perhaps even to Lyndon Johnson in 1964,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
The poll essentially mirrors a Mason-Dixon survey of Florida voters released over the weekend that gave Obama a 47-45 lead.
A survey released this morning by Public Policy Polling gives Obama a 50-48 lead over McCain in Florida.
The Quinnipiac numbers give Obama a 51-38 edge over McCain among Florida voters who have voted early and a 49-39 lead with independent voters.
The Q poll gives McCain the upper hand with male voters in Florida, 49-45 and white voters, 52-40. Florida’s evangelical Christians support McCain over Obama 71-23, as do Catholics, 55-38.
Obama trumps McCain with women voters in Florida, 49-43, and Jewish voters, 69-26 percent.
Quinnipiac surveyed 1,773 likely Florida voters from Oct. 27-Nov. 2, with a margin of error of 2.3 percent. It surveyed 1,574 likely Ohio voters with a margin of error of 2.5 percent and 1,493 Pennsylvania voters with a margin of error of 2.5 percent.