WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton has snatched the national lead from Barack Obama and built a big advantage in Pennsylvania, where the next primary is being held, according to polls released yesterday.
In the latest daily Gallup Poll, Clinton has 48 percent to Obama’s 43 – a lead she has held for several days running, after trailing Obama for weeks.
The Illinois senator is still reeling from controversial anti-US statements made by his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Clinton also runs equally well as Obama against John McCain. The presumptive GOP nominee, who had trailed both Democrats in earlier Gallup polls, leads Obama, 47 to 43 percent, and Clinton, 48 to 45.
Clinton holds a hefty 51 percent to 35 percent lead in a new Franklin & Marshall College poll of Pennsylvania voters. That more than doubles her lead from February in a state that holds its Democratic primary on April 22.
Although national polls won’t determine the winner as the candidates battle state by state, they could sway superdelegates, the party insiders who ultimately may decide the nomination if the primaries end in a stalemate.