McCain now tied with Democrats

WASHINGTON – Republican Sen. John McCain has erased Sen. Barack Obama’s 10-point advantage in a head-to-head matchup, leaving him essentially tied with both Democratic candidates in an Associated Press-Ipsos national poll released Thursday.

The survey showed the extended Democratic primary campaign creating divisions among supporters of Obama and rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and suggests a tight race for the presidency in November no matter which Democrat becomes the nominee.

An AP-Ipsos poll taken in late February had Obama leading McCain 51-41 percent. The current survey, conducted April 7-9, had them at 45 percent each. McCain leads Obama among men, whites, Southerners, married women and independents.

Clinton led McCain, 48-43 percent, in February. The latest survey showed the New York senator with 48 percent support to McCain’s 45 percent. Factoring in the poll’s margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, Clinton and McCain are statistically tied.

The last month has been challenging for Obama. The Illinois senator suffered high-profile losses in the Texas and Ohio primaries that encouraged Clinton, who pushed on even harder against him. Obama’s campaign also suffered a blow with scrutiny of incendiary sermons delivered by his longtime pastor.

Obama is also facing almost daily critiques from Clinton and McCain, questioning whether the freshman lawmaker has the experience to be a wartime leader.

Despite all the conflict surrounding Obama, the Democratic contest is unchanged from February with Obama at 46 percent and Clinton at 43 percent. But the heated primary is creating divisions among the electorate – many Clinton and Obama supporters say they would rather vote for McCain if their chosen Democrat doesn’t win the nomination.

About a quarter of Obama supporters say they’ll vote for McCain if Clinton is the Democratic nominee. About a third of Clinton supporters say they would vote for McCain if it’s Obama.