Two new polls are out today showing Hillary Clinton with a comfortable lead in the upcoming April 22 Pennsylvania primary.
Clinton has opened up a 56 percent to 30 percent lead over Barack Obama in Pennsylvania with 14 percent undecided, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted March 15-16. The margin of error is 4.5 percent.
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted March 10-16 puts Clinton's lead at 53 percent to 41 percent, with a 2.7 percent margin of error. In its last poll in late February, Clinton's margin was only 6 points.
Dean Debnam of Public Policy Polling says the controversy over Obama's ex-pastor - an issue Obama addressed today in Philadelphia during a speech on race - "has hurt (Obama) a great deal" in the state.
Obama's lead among black voters is 63 percent to 27 percent, a substantial margin but a showing by Clinton that is far better than the single digits she has polled in other states. Clinton leads Obama 63 percent to 23 percent among white voters. Clinton has a 3-to-1 lead over Obama among female voters, while Obama has a modest 45 percent to 41 percent among men. Clinton leads in ever age group, including voters under 29, although her largest margin is among those over 65, where she bests Obama 67 percent to 23 percent.
For comparison, Quinnipiac's survey had Obama's lead among black voters at 76 percent to 18 percent while Clinton led among white voters 61 percent to 33 percent. Women voters backed Clinton 59 percent to 35 percent while male voters supported Obama 48 percent to 45 percent. Quinnipiac had a different take when it came to how the age groupings broke down, with Obama leading among voters under 45 by 57 percent to 39 percent and Clinton leading among voters above that age by 60 percent to 34 percent.
Clinton's endorsement by Philadelphia's black Mayor, Michael Nutter, "is cutting slightly into Obama's overwhelming edge among black voters, but clearly the split among black and white voters is growing," said Clay F. Richards, of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
Fifty-two percent of Pennsylvania Democrats in the PPP survey named the economy as the top issue followed by the war in Iraq at 25 percent. Quinnipiac's figures were similar although it had health care in third p;lace at 18 percent. All other issues in both polls registered in single digits.
For more on the primary battle in Pennsylvania:
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