Another Poll Confirms: McCain Closes Gap

Another poll, another batch of bad news for Barack Obama. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal survey says John McCain has cut Obama's lead by half in the last month and now trails only 45% to 42%. That slim margin makes the race a statistical dead heat. A flurry of other major polls out today reached the same conclusion, and one, from Reuters/Zogby, put McCain ahead by 5 points.

The NBC poll finds that only half of Hillary Clinton supporters have shifted into Obama's camp, and 1 in 5 have jumped parties to support McCain. "The Hillary Clinton campaign may be over, but the Clinton factor remains very much a part of the election," said one pollster. The Republican's more aggressive ads and his decisive response to the Russia-Georgia conflict are two of the big reasons credited for his spike. (More McCain 2008 stories.)