Democrats finding it hard to win Catholic voters' support

POLLWATCH:BARACK OBAMA'S support from America's influential Catholic community, which has been one of the weaknesses of his campaign, is dropping again, according to the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll.

The vote of Catholics will be crucial in Pennsylvania - a state that voted Democratic in 2004 but which John McCain desperately needs to win - and in Ohio and Michigan.

During his primary battle with Hillary Clinton, for instance, Obama was outscored two to one for the Catholic vote in Pennsylvania, despite a strong attempt to reach out to it.

Interestingly, research carried out by the Pew Research Centre later showed in Pennsylvania that the better a Catholic was to attend Mass, the less likely they were to vote for Obama.

The Post/ABC polls shows that McCain is leading among Catholics by 54 points to 41 - a significantly wider margin than a month ago, although white Catholics indicated that they could change their voting intentions before polling day.

In Wisconsin, which has 10 electoral college votes, Obama is ahead comfortably by 17 points. He inflicted a heavy defeat upon Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination there in February.

The polls in Ohio, which has 20 electoral votes and where George Bush beat John Kerry by about 120,000 votes in 2004, continue to oscillate.

Yesterday, one gave McCain a one-point edge, while two other recent ones favoured Obama by two and five points.

In New Mexico, McCain, who represents neighbouring Arizona in the Senate, is behind by between five and eight points, according to polls. Bush beat Kerry there by the narrowest of margins four years ago.

Although familiar to New Mexicans, McCain is struggling to make an impact with Hispanic voters - who make up more than 40 percent of the state's population - in the face of Obama's challenge.