WTHR |Poll: Obama has slight lead in Indiana

Poll: Obama has slight lead in Indiana

Indianapolis - It's been a long time since Indiana was at play during a presidential election but the latest Indianapolis Star-WTHR poll is showing just that.

The presidential race numbers indicate a real race shaping up in Indiana: 44 percent of likely voters polled support Republican John McCain, 47 percent support Barack Obama with 6 percent not sure.

Obama's support comes mainly in metro areas from women, the young and minorities.

"Because Hoosiers want change. They want someone who will tackle these economic challenges. I think we can win," said Jonathan Swain, Obama campaign.

McCain's support comes in the suburbs and rural areas from men and white voters.

Three factors surfaced in this match-up: age, gender and race.

Asked about confidence Obama's race will not hinder his ability to be president, 64 percent said they were very confident it would not hinder him. 16 percent were fairly confident, 6 percent somewhat confident and 10 percent were not confident. Asked if they were confident McCain's age will not hinder his ability to be president, 47 percent said they were very confident, 17 percent fairly confident, 16 percent somewhat confident and 19 percent were not confident age would not hinder him.

"I don't know that it is. In the end it's competency. It's policy," said Murray Clark, State GOP chairman.

The vice presidential selections have certainly stirred things up in this campaign. The poll asked likely voters about the Sarah Palin factor. 76 percent said they were very satisfied with her selection, 14 percent said satisfied and only 5 percent wish he had selected someone else.

"You go back to what Barack Obama said. This election is not about him. It is not about Sarah Palin. It's about the issues Hoosiers are facing," said Swain.

The Joe Biden factor reflected this way: 40 percent said they were very satisfied, 27 percent were satisfied and 28 percent wish he had chosen someone else.

"He's the most liberal member of the US Senate and he picked the third most liberal member of the US Senate," said Clark.

Senator Evan Bayh certainly weighs into that question, but Clark says he is hopeful Senator McCain and Governor Palin will come to Indiana to confront the negative onslaught. Regardless, he believes Indiana will be a red state in November.

Obama's lead is tenuous because both the young and minorities are not sure to show up at the polls in the past. Friday night we'll take a closer look behind the numbers in the areas of trust, experience, taxes and the women's vote.

Meanwhile, a CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research poll found McCain favored by 51 percent of likely voters and Obama supported by 45 percent. That poll had a sampling error of 3.5 percentage points.

The Star-WTHR poll also showed that almost 20 percent said they could change their mind before voting in the Nov. 4 election.

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