It's a similar story in Colorado, a state that hasn't voted for a Democrat in the race for the White House in 16 years. The new poll indicates Obama opened a 4 point edge over McCain, 51 percent to 47 percent.
Either candidate needs at least electoral college votes to get elected and the polls show Obama will certainly close the deal if the election was held Wednesday. Realclear Politics webstie estimated that Obama and McCain now hold 286 and 158 vote, respectively.
Analysts pointed out that aside from the impact of financial storm that rocked the Wall Street, McCain's weak performance is partly his own making.
Political commentator Clive Crook pointed out that although McCain entered the race as an experienced and well-known candidate, and Obama as a little-known novice, now people may find the opposite is true.
Obama, although 25 years younger, looks unhurried and steady, focused his message on economy and tried his best to link McCain and the unpopular president Goerge W. Bush.
Meanwhile, McCain doesn't seem to have a coherent message. He attempted to leave his own mark on the financial rescue plan, but only played into the hands of the Democrats who controlled the congress.
He then tried to attack Obama's character but had to switch back when it backfired. Not surprisingly, he ends up with a 20-percent gap behind Obama in favorable ratings.
The perfect storm for Democrats
Politically, the ongoing financial turmoil turned out to be a perfect storm for Democrats, who had a better economic performance record than Republicans in recent history.
A Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll shows more than three-quarters of Americans say the nation faces a serious economic crisis and most voters trust Obama to fix it. Obama leads McCain 50 percent to 41 percent among likely voters, which is more than double Obama's advantage from a month ago.
With the economy dominant among voter concerns, 56 percent of respondents say they are confident Obama has a plan to deal with the financial crisis. Less people are sure that McCain can do it.
