Raleigh, N.C. – A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Barack Obama expanding his
lead in Colorado to 51-44. He was up by just a single point in a similar poll conducted
two weeks ago.
A precipitous drop in Sarah Palin’s approval may be helping to fuel Obama’s gains.
Immediately after the convention 41% of Colorado voters said that her selection made
them more likely to vote for John McCain, compared to 38% who said it made them less
likely to do so. Since then there’s been a 12 point drop in her net favorability. Now just
38% say that she makes them more likely to vote for the Republican, with 47% saying
they’re less likely to do so.
“Barack Obama has greatly increased his lead with independents since we last polled
Colorado,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “It seems like the
more voters have learned about Sarah Palin the less they’ve liked her, and that’s allowed
Obama to open up the largest lead he’s shown in a PPP poll of Colorado.”
Obama has opened up a one point lead with white voters while also holding a 21 point
advantage with Hispanics. He leads with every age demographic except those voters
over 65. There is a significant gender gap in the results, with Obama up 15 among
women but trailing by two with men.
In Colorado’s race for the US Senate, Democrat Mark Udall continues to hold a healthy
lead over Republican Bob Schaffer. Udall is now up 48-40. A PPP poll yesterday found
the other Udall- Tom- with a 20 point lead in his quest for Senate from neighboring New
Mexico.
PPP surveyed 1,084 likely voters on September 20th and 21st. The survey’s margin of
error is +/-3.0%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may
introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.