Poll: Obama leads in Florida, Ohio

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain in the two key battleground states of Ohio and Florida, a poll indicates.

A new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found that in Ohio, among likely voters, Obama leads McCain by 9 points, 49 percent to 40 percent, while in Florida Obama leads McCain by 7 points, 50 percent to 43 percent, among those likely to vote Nov. 4.

The Los Angeles Times reported that in both states Obama leads among women, young people, first-time voters and blacks.

Among independent voters, Obama leads in Florida 51 percent to 35 percent, while independents in Ohio favor McCain 49 percent to 38 percent.

Although McCain is viewed by voters in the two states as better equipped than Obama to deal with the threat of terrorism and the war in Iraq, voter say Obama has the temperament and personality to be president.

The poll, conducted from Saturday to Monday, interviewed 809 registered voters in Florida, including 639 deemed likely to vote; and 816 registered voters in Ohio, including 644 likely voters.

The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points for registered voters and plus or minus 4 points for likely voters.