Democrat Barack Obama has opened a five-point lead over Republican rival John McCain in the White House race and expanded his support among women voters, according to a poll released today.
The Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll shows Mr Obama leading Mr McCain by 48 per cent to 43 per cent among likely US voters in the national poll.
This is a one per cent increase since the last such poll. The poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
Mr Obama's edge among women, an important swing voting block in the November 4th election, grew from 9 to 12 points. He also gained among Hispanics and young voters and leads by 10 points among independents.
Mr Obama's edge has expanded amid intensifying economic fears as financial markets have tumbled this week.
Half of the polling, conducted this week, was done after Tuesday's second presidential debate.
"Obama is benefiting from the terrible economic news and what was seen to be a relatively poor debate performance by McCain," pollster John Zogby said.
Mr McCain (72), a former Navy fighter pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war, fell behind Mr Obama among voters with a member of the military in their family. The Arizona senator runs even with Mr Obama among voters older than 65.
"McCain is not doing well with the groups he needs to succeed," Mr Zogby said. "We're not ready to call it a tailspin, but he is slipping."
Mr Obama, an Illinois senator, has solidified his lead in most national polls in recent weeks as the Wall Street crisis focused attention on the economy, where polls show voters have more faith in his leadership.
Independent Ralph Nader had the support of 2 per cent of poll respondents and Libertarian Bob Barr registered 1 per cent. Four per cent of voters said they were still undecided.