Poll: Obama leads in key GOP counties

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama has erased longtime Republican advantages in four key counties in battleground states, a poll indicates.

The counties, each won by U.S. President George Bush in 2000 and 2004, are considered bellwethers for the swing states of Nevada, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado, the Washington publication Politico reported Tuesday.

The Politico/InsiderAdvantage poll indicated Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, was leading GOP opponent Sen. John McCain of Arizona by 46 percent to 45 percent in Nevada's Washoe County; held a 50-44 percent edge in North Carolina's Wake County; and maintained a 47-41 percent lead in Hillsborough County, Fla.

McCain was hanging onto a lead in the fourth bellwether county -- the populous suburban Denver Jefferson County, Colo., where the Republican led by a 45 percent to 43 percent margin, with eight percent undecided, Politico said.

InsiderAdvantage pollster Matt Towery said McCain's poor numbers in the key counties were largely due to weak showings among independents and male voters.

The surveys in Jefferson County (408 respondents, 5 percentage point error margin) and Hillsborough (638, 3.8) counties were conducted Oct. 12. The surveys in Wake (646, 3.7) and Washoe (586, 4) counties were conducted Oct. 9, Politico said.