A new poll shows Democrat Barack Obama with a comfortable lead over Republican John McCain in Minnesota while DFLer Al Franken and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman are running practically even in the state's U.S. Senate race.
According to the poll, conducted by Quinnipiac University for the Wall Street Journal and washingtonpost.com, Obama is supported by 51 percent of Minnesota's likely voters and McCain is supported by 40 percent.
It shows Franken slightly ahead of Coleman, 38 percent to 36 percent, with Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley attracting 18 percent.
The poll, released Tuesday, also shows Obama with strong leads over McCain in Wisconsin, Michigan and Colorado.
In Minnesota, where voters haven't backed a Republican candidate since 1972, most recent polls have consistently shown Obama ahead of McCain.
The university's Polling Institute analysis found that Obama's leads in the four states polled are as large as they have been at any point in the campaign. By wide margins, likely voters say Obama understands the nation's economy better than McCain -- a key difference at a time when the economy has become the dominant issue in the presidential campaign.
For the first time, Obama is ahead or tied with McCain among white voters in the four states.
The poll in Minnesota, conducted Oct. 8 to Sunday, has a margin of sampling error of 3.1 percentage points.
BOB VON STERNBERG, KEVIN DUCHSCHERE