UNH Survey Center Poll: McCain Up Two
The University of New Hampshire Survey Center has a poll out this evening showing John McCain has a narrow edge in the Granite State, 47% to 45% over Barack Obama.
“The race in New Hampshire is very close, but about 1 in 4 voters are not firm in supporting either candidate,” Andy Smith, Director of the UNH Survey Center, said in a statement. “New Hampshire is definitely a state that is up for grabs and will remain so until election day.”
McCain is the only non-incumbent to ever win back-to-back New Hampshire primaries. He trounced George W. Bush by 19 points in the 2000 GOP contest, and the state is responsible for resurrecting McCain's floundering campaign earlier this year. Obama, by contrast, lost the first-in-the-nation primary to Hillary Clinton.
State voters are notoriously fussy about their candidates, demanding a vigorous courtship for their political affections. And New Hampshire, as our readers know, is a critical battleground in a tight contest -- despite its meager four-vote electoral take. The state -- with its suburban sprawl creeping from Boston up the 93 corridor -- is trending blue. Riding a Democratic wave that saw the party take hold of the governor's office and both chambers of the state Legislature for the first time in a century, John F. Kerry won the state's 2004 primary. Should Obama lose sway there, it could spell broader trouble for his campaign.
Maybe it's time for Round 2 in Unity ...
(JENNIFER SKALKA)