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New poll finds swing to the Democrats in party's northeast stronghold

Support for the Democrats in the mid-term elections has increased 7 percentage points among men and independents in the past three weeks, a poll said.

By Frances Burns
President Barack Obama's decision to launch airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria may have helped his party with male voters, according to a recent poll. UPI/Matthew Bruch/USAF
President Barack Obama's decision to launch airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria may have helped his party with male voters, according to a recent poll. UPI/Matthew Bruch/USAF | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Support for Democrats in the mid-term elections has jumped 6 points recently, with most of the gain in the party's Northeast stronghold, a new poll finds.

The CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday asked likely voters to choose between generic candidates. Democrats had a slight edge, with 47 percent to 45 percent for Republicans.

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Three weeks ago, the results were tilted the other way, with Republicans having an advantage of 4 percentage points. The Democrats gained ground with men and independents, with support among both groups up 7 points.

The findings could make little difference in November since the increase in support comes in a region where the Democrats are already strong and not in states like Louisiana and South Carolina, where Democratic senators are in close races.

About two-thirds of respondents said the economy is the biggest factor in their decision on who to vote for. But CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said President Barack Obama's decision to launch airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria may have helped his party with male voters with Democrats trailing among the group by only 6 points.

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"That may be a sign that some men wanted to see aggressive action taken against ISIS and are rewarding the President's party -- or simply that the President's actions have convinced men that they don't need to send more Republicans to Washington in order to get action that they are looking for," Holland said.

ORC International interviewed 1,055 adults by telephone between Sept. 25 and Sept. 28. The margin of error is 3 points for the entire sample and 3.5 points for the 701 likely voters in the group.

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