Obama Leads McCain In Four Battleground States

According to four Quinnipiac University polls released today, conducted with The Wall Street Journal and washingtonpost.com, "An emerging Democratic coalition of women, minorities and younger voters is propelling Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to leads of five to 17 percentage points over Arizona Sen. John McCain among likely voters in the battleground states of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin,"




√ Colorado: Obama leads McCain 49 - 44 percent, including 51 - 39 percent among independent

√ Michigan: Obama tops McCain 48 - 42 percent, with 46 - 38 percent among independents

√ Minnesota: Obama buries McCain 54 - 37 percent, and 54 - 33 percent with independents

√ Wisconsin: Obama leads McCain 52 - 39 percent, and 50 - 37 percent with independents.


Great news for Obama , but no so for the Clintons Chris Cillizza reports:

Battlegrounds Poll: The Bill Clinton 'Problem'

One of the most interesting findings from polls conducted in the battleground states of Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Colorado is the significant number of people -- including a surprising share of Democrats and independents -- who believe that former president Bill Clinton would be a "problem" for Barack Obama if Hillary Rodham Clinton is vice president.

n each of the four states surveyed by Quinnipiac University, at least two-in-ten Democrats and roughly 40 percent of independent voters said Bill Clinton would be a problem for Obama. Here's the full breakout of the numbers:

Respondents were asked: "If Hillary Clinton becomes Vice President, do you think Bill Clinton would be a problem to the Obama administration or not?"

Those numbers -- especially among independents -- are telling. Bill Clinton came into this election riding high in the eyes of the American public, popularity built on his humanitarian work throughout the world and the tendency of voters to pine for the past.

But during the course of the campaign, the former president found himself at the center of a number of controversies -- from insisting that Obama's win in South Carolina's primary was akin to the 1988 victory by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to using the unfortunate phrase "biggest fairy tale" when it came to talking about Obama's positioning on the war.

The backlash -- particularly among some leaders in the black community -- was swift and seemed to take the former president by surprise. In the waning weeks of his wife's campaign, Clinton said that Obama's campaign had "played the race card on me," although he has offered to help the presumptive nominee in any way possible during the general election.

The battleground polls provide tangible evidence that Bill Clinton -- at least among a segment of Democrats and independents -- could be seen as a drag on his wife's quiet campaign to be picked as the running-mate.

In fact, when asked whether they would like to see Obama pick Clinton as his running mate, there was considerable indecision among Democrats in each of the four states.

That tepidness toward the so-called "Dream Ticket" was most pronounced in Minnesota, where 45 percent of Democrats said they supported Obama picking Clinton while 43 percent opposed the idea. The numbers were slightly better in Michigan (56 percent "yes"/29 percent "no"), Minnesota (51/37) and Wisconsin (52/35).

Independents, however, were even less keen on the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket. In three of the four states, more than 50 percent of independents opposed the idea while in the fourth -- Minnesota -- 47 percent of independents thoughts it was a bad idea.

We'll have more on how these poll numbers impact Clinton's chance at the vice presidential nod when we argue the cast against the New York senator tomorrow in this space. We made the Case for Clinton as the VP nominee earlier this week.