Story Created:
Oct 7, 2008 at 11:37 AM EDT
Story Updated:
Oct 7, 2008 at 11:37 AM EDT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two new polls show a tight race in Indiana between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain just weeks before the Nov. 4 election.
A WISH-TV Indiana poll found Obama and McCain each supported by 46 percent of likely voters, with 5 percent undecided and 3 percent saying they favored another candidate.
The poll released Monday night has a margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Meanwhile, a CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday found McCain favored by 51 percent of likely voters and Obama supported by 46 percent. That poll had a sampling error of 4 percentage points.
That poll also surveyed registered voters — a larger pool of people that includes some less likely to vote — and found McCain and Obama both with 48 percent support. A similar CNN poll of registered voters in Indiana in mid-September found McCain favored by 51 percent to Obama's 45 percent.
Obama plans a rally Wednesday in Indianapolis, which will be his sixth trip to Indiana since the May primary as he tries to break the GOP's 40-year grip on the state's electoral votes.
Other recent polls have also shown a tight Indiana race follow months of campaign work and television advertising in the state by Obama.
Republicans have said they're confident McCain will win Indiana, as all Republican presidential nominees have done since 1968.
The Republican National Committee started last week running TV commercials in Indiana supporting McCain. The McCain campaign also is adding paid staffers in the state, where McCain has no field offices. McCain last visited Indiana on July 1.
The WISH poll was a telephone survey of 800 likely voters conducted Sept. 29-Oct. 3 by Maryland-based Research 2000. The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corp. poll was a telephone survey of 677 likely voters conducted Friday through Monday.