Democrat Barack Obama is gaining ground in four hard-fought battleground states, a new poll said Tuesday, piling more pressure on his rival John McCain ahead of their second debate clash.
In midwestern Wisconsin, Obama's lead has stretched to five percentage points from three when the poll was taken in mid-September, the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey results showed.
In northeastern New Hampshire, a six-point lead in a September poll has widened to eight, while in solidly Republican North Carolina, the two rivals are neck-and-neck at 49 percent, the poll showed.
And in the crucial midwestern state of Ohio, Obama held on to a three percent lead over McCain, one point greater than in the mid-September poll.
The sampling error for the polls, conducted October 3-6, was 3.5 percentage points in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Ohio, and four percentage points in North Carolina.
A Washington Post-ABC poll of Ohio voters also released Tuesday gives the Democrat a six-point edge in the state. The poll of more than 1,000 voters conducted October 3-5 has a 3.5 percent margin of error.
The key battleground states of Florida and Ohio are crucial for victory for both candidates in the November 4 presidential election. In 2004, Bush's narrow victory in Ohio clinched his reelection.
"Ohio voters correctly picked the winning presidential candidate in the last 11 elections," according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, an Ohio paper.
