Barack Obama Leads John McCain in Poll

If the 2008 Election was held today, Democrat Barack Obama would defeat Republican John McCain, according to a latest poll.

According to a recent poll conducted by the Associated Press, Barack Obama leads Hillary Rodham Clinton in a matchup against John McCain. The results show that Obama has more popularity among men, minorities and moderates.

Obama edges McCain in the general poll, 48 percent to 42 percent, dividing the male vote with the Arizona senator. Obama does especially well with men under 45: He defeats McCain by 9 points among younger men, while McCain defeats Clinton with those voters by 7 points.

McCain does well against Clinton as a result of his male support, who prefer him by 9 percentage points. That compensates for her 11-point advantage among women.

Obama does better than Clinton with men when paired against McCain. However, Women favor Obama over McCain by 12 points, and favor Clinton over McCain by 11.

Obama grabbed 74 percent of the voting of minorities when compared against McCain, 7 points more than Clinton. In the most recent Democratic primaries, Obama does better than Clinton among blacks, while she attracts slightly more support from Hispanics.

Yet among whites, who have preferred Clinton to Obama in most Democratic contests this year, she has no advantage when each is paired against McCain. Both get 37 percent of white voters, trailing McCain.

Clinton still has 46 percent to 41 percent edge over Obama in the fight for the Democratic party.

McCain is still well ahead of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 44 percent to 30 percent, in the Republican race.