Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has a 17-point lead over Republican presidential candidate John McCain in Wisconsin, according to a survey released Tuesday.
Quinnipiac University, in conjunction with the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, surveyed likely voters in the four battleground states of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
According to the poll, Obama has over 50 percent of the vote in all four states and for the first time, leads or ties McCain among white and male voters.
The poll reveals Wisconsin voters believe the economy is the biggest issue and 53 percent say Obama understands it better. Conversely, the poll reported Wisconsin voters consider McCain more competent in foreign policy by 57 percent.
Obama made his largest gain in Wisconsin after the debate last week, moving from a lead of 8 points pre-debate to 17 points post-debate, according to the study.
According to Clay Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, Wisconsin represents one of the few key states where Obama holds a substantial lead among blue collar, Catholic and white voters, male and female.
Peter Brown, another assistant director of the polling institute, said in a statement he believes McCain may not be able to overcome Obama's recent surge in battleground states.
The only possible bright spot for Sen. McCain '¦ is that he is holding roughly the same portion of the Republican vote,"" Brown said. ""But McCain's support among independent voters, a group he says are key to winning the White House, has collapsed.""
Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said the poll's results are not detrimental to McCain's campaign.
""This is one poll that is clearly outside of the norm that has been. We aren't worried about it,"" Kukowski said.
""We have plenty of time. We have 22 days in the election and that's an eternity in politics. We will continue to do what we need to do to get Sen. McCain's message out to the independent voters,"" she said.
McCain's substantial drop in the polls has his campaign responding with aggressive get-out-the-vote programs in Wisconsin from now until Nov. 4, Kukowski said.
