McCain, Obama still close in key states

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. presidential election in the key states of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin was locked into very close contests, a poll indicated.

The Quinnipiac University-Washingtonpost.com-Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday suggested the numbers for Democratic nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois of Republican opponent Sen. John McCain of Arizona have moved very little over the course of a month in the states, despite headline-grabbing and potentially game-changing developments.

The poll indicated statistical dead-heats in Colorado, Michigan and Minnesota, while only in Wisconsin was there a result outside the poll's unnamed margin of error. There Obama led McCain by 49 percent to 42 percent, The Washington Post reported.

The pollsters said the turmoil in the Wall Street financial markets has served to strengthen the economy's hold as the top election issue in the minds of the four states' voters, especially in Michigan, where nearly 60 percent of respondents named it as the most important concern.

The Post said the four polls were conducted Sept. 14-21, with respondents numbering 1,364 in Michigan, 1,301 in Minnesota, 1,313 in Wisconsin and 1,418 in Colorado.