Poll: McCain leads Obama in rural areas

WHITESBURG, Ky., May 18 (UPI) -- Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain leads Democratic hopeful Barack Obama among rural voters in battleground states, a poll indicates.

The poll released Sunday by the Center for Rural Strategies indicates McCain leads Obama by nine points among likely voters in rural parts of 13 swing states.

Fifty percent of those surveyed said they favored McCain while 41 percent supported Obama, widely regarded as the likely Democratic nominee.

In a matchup between McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton, likely rural voters split evenly, with 46 percent support for both candidates.

Republican poll adviser Bill Greener said the poll indicates U.S. voters' disenchantment with the Republican Party is reaching into rural America, but he said McCain "still shows strength" there, "even if it is not yet at the level that will be required on Election Day to win."

The poll surveyed 682 respondents from rural parts of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

The survey, conducted May 13-15, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.75 percent.