Countering a series of polls earlier this week showing Barack Obama leading the presidential race in Florida, a Chamber of Commerce poll shows John McCain with a lead slightly less than the error margin.

The poll showed McCain with 45 percent; Obama 42 percent; Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and “others” with 1 percent each; and 10 percent undecided. The error margin is 4 points.

Four polls released Wednesday showed Obama leading, all but one by margins greater than the error margin. Democrats crowed over those numbers, but Republicans disputed their accuracy, significance or both.

In a separate chamber poll, Gov. Charlie Crist’s approval rating was similar to ratings he received shortly after his election. Those ratings had dropped recently in most polls, but returned to 67 percent approval in this one.

On another question from the Chamber poll, exactly half the respondents said they approve of “the federal government stepping in to try to address the problems facing struggling financial institutions,” while 40 percent disapproved and 10 percent said they don’t know. The question did not use the words “bailout” or “rescue.”

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