Polling shows big win a possibility

BARACK OBAMA leads in four states won by US President George W Bush in 2004 and is essentially tied in two other Republican states, according to new AP-GfK battleground polling that suggests most roads to victory are closed to John McCain.

Obama could win by a large majority. The surveys explain why Obama is hoping not just for a win, but a transcendent victory that remakes the nation’s political map. McCain is scrambling to defend states where he wouldn’t even be campaigning if the race were closer.

The polls show Obama winning among early voters, favoured on almost every issue, benefiting from the country’s sour mood and widely viewed as the winning candidate by voters in eight crucial states — Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Despite this, McCain aides insist their internal polls show victory is still within reach. Indeed, polls are mere snapshots of fluid campaigns and this race has been volatile. McCain was written off prematurely last year and Obama seemed poised for victory in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary just before Hillary Rodham Clinton thumped him.