Obama, McCain going neck-and-neck: Poll

In the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, the first conducted entirely after Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee, he leads his Republican counterpart 49 per cent to 46 per cent among registered voters 8212; a statistical tie, given the 3-point margin of error.

McCain and Obama are not alone. Independent candidate Ralph Nader and Republican-turned-Libertarian Bob Barr are vying with the two major-party candidates for independent voters.

But at this point, the poll says it looks unlikely either will play a spoiler role. When pollsters asked about a field of candidates that includes Nader and Barr, the margin between Obama and McCain was virtually unchanged, with Democrat leading 47 per cent to 43 percent. Nader pulls in 6 per cent and Barr 2.

A hypothetical Obama-Hillary Clinton ticket would currently get 52 per cent of the vote, compared with 46 per cent for a hypothetical McCain-Mitt Romney ticket, according to the poll.