In the latest NYT/WSJ poll, Barack Obama has a 47-41 percent advantage over John McCain, which is no great surprise. Fuurthermore:
But Obama's lead over McCain expands to 13 points when third-party candidates Ralph Nader and Bob Barr are added into the mix — with Obama at 48 percent, McCain at 35 percent, Nader at 5 percent and Barr at 2 percent. However, it's important to note that the pro-Obama vote (48 percent) and anti-Obama vote (adding up to 42 percent) is consistent with the result from the two-way match up.
“This remains Barack Obama's election to win,” Hart says. “In the end, the election is about reassuring voters and removing doubts.”
Or maybe not. Also according to the poll, 55 percent think Obama would be the riskier choice for presidency; just 35 percent say that of McCain. With only 13 percent think the country is headed in the right direction (the lowest percentage in the history of the poll), the voters seem to prefer the risk over same-old same old.
