Zogby finds Obama’s lead widening among Catholics

Oct 22, 2008 / 15:22 pm

A Zogby poll released today shows that Senator Barack Obama’s lead has widened to nearly 10 points among Americans, and 12 points among Catholics. Other polls, however, are finding that McCain is narrowing the gap with Obama amongst the general population.

 

The three-day rolling average telephone poll shows that in the last day, the Democratic presidential candidate has picked up 1.3% of the American vote while Senator John McCain slipped 0.4%.

 

Zogby will track the responses of potential voters every day until the election on November 4. 

 

“Anything can happen,” CEO and President of Zogby International, John Zogby noted, “but time is running short for McCain.”

 

Unlike August when McCain was clearly ahead regarding the Catholic vote, the data shows Obama in the lead by a 12 point margin among the 324 Catholic voters phoned in the poll. Out of the 324 Catholic voters, 53.7% selected Obama and 41.5% chose McCain.

 

When asked why McCain is falling behind in the Catholic vote, John Zogby told CNA that the economy appears to turned the Catholic tide toward Obama.

 

“Catholics have 401ks too,” Zogby stated.  “Basically, the economy has sucked the oxygen out of every other issue that’s out there.  It is the elephant in the room and essentially it is the economy that has pretty much forced McCain off his game.”

 

Zogby also noted that among Catholics, “there is a growing comfort level with Obama the more voters get to know him.”  The poll numbers, he continued, “clearly show that he is building support among Catholics.”

 

The Zogby poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

 

Meanwhile, other poll found Obama and McCain splitting potential voters almost evenly. An AP-GfK poll showed Obama at 44 percent and McCain at 43 percent and a IBD/TIPP Poll shows a sudden tightening of Obama's lead to 3.7 from 6 points.