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REUTERS-Additional Links and Images Courtesy of Mdaku. -Thu Oct 23, 2008
WASHINGTON - After trailing by 10 points in U.S. rural areas, Democrat Barack Obama is neck-and-neck with Republican John McCain among rural voters in 13 swing states, a potentially key group for winning the White House, according to a poll released on Thursday.
Obama was supported by 46 percent and McCain by 45 percent of 841 likely voters surveyed from October 5-21, as U.S. financial turmoil deepened, according to the poll commissioned by the nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
A month ago, the poll showed McCain led 51-41. This time, respondents said Obama would do better than McCain on the economy, taxes and "the financial crisis in the country."
Nearly 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas. They tend to be social and fiscal conservatives. President George W. Bush won rural districts nationwide by 19 points in 2004.
Obama Waving At Crowds During His Rally In Berlin.
The poll showed rural voters have cooled from their initial enthusiasm for Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president.
Forty percent view her favorably and 42 percent unfavorably, compared to a 48-33 split in September. Obama, McCain and Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for vice president, had higher ratings than Palin in the new poll.
McCain led Obama 53-43 on the question of who would do better in handling the war in Iraq. In the earlier poll, he held a 56-37 advantage as well as a lopsided lead on who would do the best job on taxes and a 3-point lead on the economy.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent. It interviewed likely voters in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.
By Charles Abbott-(Editing by Vicki Allen and Mdaku)
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