Monday, September 29, 2008

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The latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Colorado finds Barack Obama attracting 49% of the vote while John McCain earns 48%.

A week ago, a Rasmussen Reports survey found Obama with a three-point advantage. Two weeks ago, McCain had a two-point advantage in a Fox News/Rasmussen Reports poll.

The two candidates have been within three points for five consecutive polls, confirming Colorado’s status as a competitive swing state. It is also a very important state in this year’s Electoral College calculations. In many scenarios, if Obama can move this state from the Republican to the Democratic column, that will be enough to win the White House.

Obama now leads by 10 among women but trails by 11 among men. McCain leads by five among white voters but trails by more than a two-to-one margin among all other voters in the state.

Among those who say that economic issues are most important, Obama leads by a 67% to 30% margin. Among those who say national security issues are the highest priority, McCain leads 77% to 22% (crosstabs available for Premium Members). The good news for Obama is that 47% of voters consider economic issues as most important while just 24% say the same about national security.

Nationally, during the past week or so, Obama has opened a modest lead over McCain in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll (sign up for a free daily e-mail update). Obama has built his lead as consumer and investor confidence has fallen to the lowest levels of the past seven years.

McCain is viewed favorably by 57% of Colorado voters, Obama by 55%.

Rasmussen Markets data gives Obama a % chance of winning Colorado’s nine Electoral College votes this November. At the time this poll was released, Colorado was rated as “Toss-Up” in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator. NOTE: Factors other than the latest Rasmussen Reports poll impact the Balance of Power ratings. The current status is indicated on the table in the upper right corner of this article.

Rasmussen Reports and Fox News Channel jointly release a series of battleground state polls every Monday at 6 p.m. Eastern. See overview of all polling released this week with results from Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Demographic crosstabs for all state polling data are available for Premium Members. Learn More.

Additional state polls are released each day at 5 p.m. Eastern. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential tracking Poll is released each morning at 9:30 Eastern.

Just one third of Colorado voters (33%) give President George W. Bush good or excellent ratings, while 48% say he is doing a poor job.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs are available for Premium Members only.