A new poll of Alaska voters by
Hayes Research shows Democrat Barack Obama leading Republican John McCain by five percentage points:
Obama 45%
McCain 40%
This is state that has gone Republican by overwhelming margins in every presidential election from 1968 to 2004. As points of reference, here are the last three results in Alaska:
2004
Bush 61%
Kerry 36%
2000
Bush 59%
Gore 28%
1996
Dole 51%
Clinton 33%
(In 1996 and 2000, third party candidates did really well, thus the bigger gaps.)
Obama is giving McCain a run for his money in this state, and that says a lot about the Democrat's appeal in a handful of red states. Even if Obama doesn't win this state on Election Day, a small margin of victory for McCain would be embarrassing.
