If Democrats choose Barack Obama as their presidential candidate against Republican John McCain, they would have a much better chance to carry Minnesota in the November general election.
That's the determination of a poll this week by Rasmussen Reports, an independent firm specializing in public opinion polling information.
The latest Rasmussen telephone survey shows McCain leading Clinton 47 to 42 percent. However, Obama leads McCain 53 to 38 percent.
Rasmussen says this trend has been found in most other states.
In Minnesota, Clinton leads McCain by 9 points among women but trails by 21 among men. Obama leads by 29 points among women, while running even with McCain among men.
The survey of 500 likely voters was conducted by Rasmussen on Saturday. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.
PAUL WALSH
