Gallup Daily: Obama 50%, Clinton 42%

PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama continues to lead Hillary Clinton in national Democratic preferences for the Democratic presidential nomination, now by an eight percentage point margin of 50% to 42%, the fourth consecutive day in which Obama has held a significant lead over his competitor in Gallup Poll Daily tracking.

Obama has led Clinton by significant margins of between eight and 10 points in the last four Gallup reports, stretching back to April 4-6. Although the margin has varied, Obama has also led Clinton by at least one point in every three-day rolling average reported by Gallup since March 18-20. (To view the complete trend since Jan. 3, 2008, click here.)

There has been little change in the highly competitive nature of the general election, based on Gallup Poll Daily tracking of registered voters nationwide. Presumptive nominee John McCain is within one point of both Obama and Clinton. It's Obama 46%, McCain 45%, and McCain 45%, Clinton 44%. -- Frank Newport

Survey Methods

Gallup is interviewing no fewer than 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide each day during 2008.

The general election results are based on combined data from April 5-9, 2008. For results based on this sample of 4,378 registered voters, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points.

The Democratic nomination results are based on combined data from April 7-9, 2008. For results based on this sample of 1,204 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

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