Gallup: Obama lead over Clinton immaterial

PRINCETON, N.J., May 5 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has a slim lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton in their bids for the Democratic presidential nomination, a Gallup poll indicates.

The 4-percentage-point advantage Obama, D-Ill., has over Clinton, D-N.Y., 49 percent to 45 percent, is statistically insignificant because of the sampling error of 3 points, Gallup pollsters said Monday.

The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking is the 11th straight day neither Democratic candidate held a significant lead over the other, the Princeton, N.J., pollster reported.

Clinton has had a better showing than Obama against presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the general election, though McCain has the edge over each Democrat, pollsters said.

Respondents in the latest survey said they preferred McCain to Clinton by 46 percent to 45 percent, and would choose McCain to Obama by 47 percent to 42 percent.

For Democratic nomination results, 1,267 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters were interviewed Thursday through Saturday.

For general election results, 4.402 registered voters were interviewed Tuesday through Saturday. The margin of sampling error is 2 percentage points.