PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama, who has come under attack by his presidential rivals for describing small-town voters as "bitter," seems to be weathering the storm to this point as far as voters are concerned. He maintains a 10 percentage point lead over Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, 50% to 40%, according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking.
That 10-point lead matches Obama's best of the campaign, and even as the controversy has dominated the political airwaves, Obama's support remained strong in tracking interviews conducted on Saturday and Sunday. It is likely Clinton and Republican John McCain will continue to remind voters of the remarks, and the possibility remains that it could affect voters in the coming days, but so far they seem unaffected by the controversy.
Obama has now held a significant lead over Clinton in Democratic voters' nomination preferences for the last eight days, averaging roughly an 8-point lead, compared with the current 10-point spread. During this time, 50% of Democratic voters have supported him on average, matching the latest figure for interviewing conducted April 11-13. (To view the complete trend since Jan. 3, 2008, click here.)
In the general election trial heat match up versus McCain, 46% of registered voters prefer Obama, the same as in the past four days' releases and equal to Obama's high-water mark since Gallup began tracking general election preferences in March. McCain is the choice of 44% of registered voters, which is a percentage point better than in the prior three days' releases.
The Clinton-McCain trial heat results are unchanged, with 46% of registered voters favoring Clinton and 45% McCain. -- Jeff Jones
Survey Methods
For the Gallup Poll Daily tracking survey, Gallup is interviewing no fewer than 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide each day during 2008.
The Democratic nomination results are based on combined data from April 11-13, 2008. For results based on this sample of 1,271 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.
The general election results are based on combined data from April 9-13, 2008. For results based on this sample of 4,415 registered voters, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 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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