Obama, Clinton Tied With McCain

Candidates in dead heat with voters who feel worse off than last election

By Peter Fearon, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 13, 2008 9:53 AM CDT

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Obama, Clinton Tied With McCain — A new poll shows Hillary Clinton appeals more to the Democratic base while Barack Obama appeals to a wider range of voters, but are running neck and neck nationally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Voters say they'd rather see a Democrat than a Republican in the White House—by a 50% to 37% margin, a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds—but when it comes to the two Democratic candidates still in the race, John McCain is going to be tough for either to beat. Barack Obama leads McCain by just 47% to 44% in the poll, while Hillary Clinton leads the Republican nominee 47% to 45%. The distinction is insignificant because both results are within the poll's margin of error.

“There is no difference between how Obama runs against McCain or Clinton runs against McCain,” said the lead pollster. “The difference is Hillary runs stronger with the Democratic base, and Barack Obama reaches into a bit broader group of voters.” The poll also found most Americans believe they are worse off than four years ago. (More NBC/WSJ Poll stories.)

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