Obama leads McCain 54-39 in N.H.

CONCORD, N.H., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama holds a 15-point lead over his Republican opponent in New Hampshire, a poll released Sunday indicates.

The Boston Globe said Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, leads Sen. John McCain of Arizona by a 54 percent to 39 percent margin in a poll conducted by the newspaper.

The poll represented a huge turnaround for Obama in the state -- a similar survey in September indicated he trailed McCain by 2 percentage points, making for a 17-percentage-point swing. The economy is the driving issue in the change, with respondents saying overwhelmingly the Democrat is the nominee best equipped to deal with the global financial crisis, the Globe said.

"McCain certainly has his back to the wall in New Hampshire," said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which conducted the poll. "The economic crisis in September and October has changed the mood of voters in New Hampshire, who are now solidly backing Obama as the candidate best able to deal with economic issues."

The survey included 725 likely voters, was conducted from Oct. 18-22 and a 3.5 percentage-point margin of error.