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In Oregon, Obama Pulls Away At the Finish, Dragging Merkley With Him.
With half of Oregon poll respondents telling SurveyUSA they have already voted, Democrats Barack Obama and Jeff Merkley appear poised, 8 days till the counting begins, to win Oregon elections for President and US Senator, according to research conducted exclusively for KATU-TV in Portland. Today, it's Obama 57%, Republican John McCain 38%; compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll 2 weeks ago, Obama is flat, McCain down 2. Obama leads 2:1 among those who tell SurveyUSA they have already voted. In the US Senate race, Merkley defeats incumbent Republican Gordon Smith 49% to 42% today; Constitution Party candidate Dave Brownlow gets 5%. Merkley is up 3 points in the past 2 weeks; Smith is up 1. Merkley leads by 10 among those who tell SurveyUSA they have already voted, by 2 among those who have not yet voted but promise to. If Smith does not carry by 5:4 the votes of those in Oregon who have not yet voted, this is a pick-up for the Democrats in the US Senate. 800 Oregon adults were interviewed 10/25/08 and 10/26/08. Of them 736 were registered to vote. Of them, 672 are included in the likely voter mix. |