Barack Obama has maintained his lead against John McCain in the US Presidential election and is beating his Republican opponent by 48.2 per cent to 44 per cent, according to the latest Reuters/C-Span/Zogby opinion poll released in the nation's capital. The telephone poll included a sample of 1,210 voters collected over a three-day period, October 11 to 14.
Senator Obama, however, lost some ground among independent voters and now leads Senator McCain by just eight points among this part of the electorate, 44 per cent to 36 per cent. His lead in the previous poll was 17 per cent.
Mr McCain has flipped places with Mr Obama among men and now leads by a mere one per cent while Mr Obama leads by eight points among women, down from 11 points in the previous poll.
Liberal voters support Mr Obama over Mr McCain by an 85 per cent to 11 per cent margin and Mr McCain leads among conservatives by a 74 per cent to 19 per cent edge. In the case of moderates, 61 per cent support Mr Obama and 33 per cent back Mr McCain.
Mr McCain has regained the lead among military families by 49 per cent to 44 per cent. Among electors who registered to vote in the last six months, Mr Obama leads Mr McCain by 55 per cent to 34 per cent.
The survey clearly shows that the economy is by far the most important issue in the election with 62 per cent of respondents citing it as their main concern.
The war in Iraq came a distant second with nine per cent, followed by the threat of a terrorist attack on the US with eight per cent. Healthcare (seven per cent), the environment (two per cent), energy prices (two per cent) and immigration (two per cent) were other issues that were highlighted.
The opinion poll also showed that Mr Obama is believed to be the best candidate to handle America's economic crisis, by a margin of 47 per cent to 43 per cent for Mr McCain. Ninety two per cent of voters had a negative view on the country's economic policy and a majority of Americans now give their personal financial situation a negative rating (52 per cent).
Three in four voters say their country is heading in the wrong direction and, perhaps most significantly, 64 per cent of Republicans now believe their country is on the wrong track.
President George W. Bush's job approval ratings have hit a new record low of 21 per cent. However, the ratings of Congress, which is controlled by the Democratic party, has fallen to its previous record low of nine per cent it slipped to in August.
Although people's economic concerns are clearly favouring Mr Obama in this election, observers say the election is still too close to call. "Three weeks is a lifetime in politics," a representative of Zogby International, which released the poll, said.