Barack Obama continues surging nationally and in key states, polls showed yesterday – as voters from coast to coast cast ballots today on the biggest presidential primary day in US history.
Several national polls out yesterday had Obama completely wiping out Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s once-commanding lead to draw even, while others even revealed him taking a slight lead.
A survey conducted for CNN showed Obama collecting support from 49 percent of Democrats and Clinton 46 percent.
Obama’s 3-point lead is within the margin of error, but a significant reversal from when Clinton led him by 25 points or more in national polling a few months ago.
Other polls of Democratic voters in important states also showed similar movement in Obama’s favor.
In California, a megajackpot with 441 delegates at stake, Obama made further gains yesterday after drawing even with Clinton over the past week.
The latest Zogby poll of Democratic voters there showed Obama with a 6-point lead, a dramatic turnaround from just a few months ago, when Clinton led in the Golden State by some 30 points.
A second California poll out yesterday conducted by Suffolk University gave Obama 40 percent to Clinton’s 39, a 1-point edge well within the poll’s margin of error.
Polls elsewhere had Obama taking small leads in Massachusetts, Missouri and Connecticut – all states that were once dominated by Clinton.
In Massachusetts, a Suffolk poll found Obama leading narrowly with 46 percent to Clinton’s 44.
“The Bay State’s senior senator, Ted Kennedy, clearly has more clout in Massachusetts than the popular former president, Bill Clinton,” said David Paleologos, director of the Political Research Center at Suffolk University.
Add the endorsement of Sen. John Kerry to the blessing of Camelot “and you have the reason why what was once Clinton country has become an Obama opportunity – and a political choice between the nostalgic and the new,” he said.
A second poll of Massachusetts Democrats, by SurveyUSA, found Obama closing in on Clinton but still gave her a large lead.
The same pollsters’ survey of Connecticut found Obama with a 2-point lead after trailing by more than 20 points last November.
As with Massachusetts, Obama’s progress in Connecticut severely undercuts the Clintons’ efforts to portray Obama as a black candidate who can only do well in states where black voters make up a significant portion of the Democratic Party.
Polling also shows Obama easily walking away with Georgia, next door to South Carolina, where Obama slaughtered Clinton last month in the most lopsided defeat of the entire primary season.
A poll of Georgia Democrats conducted by Zogby International found Obama opening a 17-point lead in the state.
A second poll of Georgia Democrats by Strategic Vision showed Obama collecting 49 percent support and Clinton getting 27 percent – a 22-point blowout.
Clinton, meanwhile, maintains strong leads in a handful of states including her home state.
The battle for New Jersey has certainly tightened, but she holds an 11-point lead there, according to a SurveyUSA poll out yesterday.
In Tennessee, an Insider Advantage poll shows her with a 20-point lead.
And here in New York, a Quinnipiac poll out yesterday had her 14 points ahead of Obama.
But as with New Jersey, Clinton’s lead here has been severely cut in recent weeks – a humiliation not suffered by Obama.
In his home state of Illinois, Obama has a better-than-30-point lead over Clinton.
churt@nypost.com