RSS Feed of the blog

Contributors:

Reporter William March has covered state and national politics since 1994. Email

Reporter Christian M. Wade has covered the City of Tampa since 2008. Email

Reporter Mike Salinero has covered Hillsborough County government for The Tampa Tribune since 2007. Email

Reporter Lindsay Peterson has been a general assignment reporter at the Tampa Tribune since 2005, focusing on higher education since 2009. Email

Tribune Politics Coverage

Florida Political Blogs:

• State Of Sunshine
• Pushing Rope
• Interstate4Jamming
• News Service of Florida
• FLA Politics
• Sayfie Review/

More Resources:

• TBO.com Home Page
• TBO.com Politics
• TBO.com News Updates
• Live Traffic Updates
• TBO.com Communities

Most Recent Entries

• 1 Killed This Week in Afghanistan
• Nelson: Obama birth control compromise “seems to solve the problem”
• Sharpe suspending campaign
• Sharpe to make announcement, may be out of House race
• Largo Military Museum Gets New Name, Mission
• Planned Parenthood: Polls show Catholics, voters favor contraception coverage
• Weatherford denies any attempt to undermine West
• Michelle Obama to tour Florida for healthy eating
• Pentagon Co-Spokesman Changed Trim After Boss’ Haircuts
• Brig. Gen. Becomes Highest-Ranking Death in Afghanistan
• Special Operations Command To Go Para-Commando Over University of Tampa
• Air Force To Cut Nearly 300 Planes, But None From MacDill
• POTUS Veterans Job Act: Billions To Hire Vets As Law Enforcement, First Reponders, Park Workers
• Will Israel Really Strike Iran? SECDEF Won’t Comment On Ignatius Assertion
• College Scholarship Available To a Lucky Family At MacDIll

More

• Breaking News
• Command Post Tampa
• Fact Finders - Databay Blog
• Guestbook: Remembering The Fallen Soldiers
• Fresh Squeezed Politics
• Political Safari

Monthly Archives

• Breaking News
• Command Post Tampa
• Fact Finders - Databay Blog
• Guestbook: Remembering The Fallen Soldiers
• Fresh Squeezed Politics
• Political Safari

M-D Poll: Obama Edges Ahead In Tossup Race

Posted Nov 1, 2008 by William March

Updated Nov 1, 2008 at 04:40 PM

As the nation heads toward a historic Election Day, Barack Obama has edged ahead of John McCain among Florida voters, but by a margin that still leaves the race a tossup, according to a new poll.

The poll, done for The Tampa Tribune by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, shows Obama with 47 percent to McCain’s 45 percent, 7 percent undecided and 1 percent for other candidates.

With the poll’s 4-point error margin, the result amounts to a tie or close to a tie, said pollster Brad Coker.

The result is an improvement for Obama from two weeks ago, when the same poll showed McCain ahead by a single percentage point, but Coker noted that both outcomes, and the change, are within the error margin.

“It’s a bit of a gain—I’d rather be two points ahead than two points behind,” Coker said. “But it’s nothing to bet the house on, if you still have one.”

Coker said either candidate can win Florida – “It’s a turnout game.”

But he said McCain’s failure to nail down a state that sealed the 2000 and 2004 races for George W. Bush indicates a nationwide problem.

Another poll published today, by Datamar Inc., found the race a 47-47 percent tie, with 4 percent undecided and 2 percent for other candidates.

Full story in tomorrow’s Tampa Tribune.