Gallup: Obama Holds Largest Lead Over McCain

July 28, 2008 2:13 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has bolsered his once precarious national lead in Gallup's daily tracking and now leads Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) by nine points.

Obama is ahead of McCain, 49 percent to 40 percent. One percent of voters declared their support for other candidates, 5 percent said they would vote for neither candidate and 4 percent had no opinion.

The Democrat's lead is his biggest over McCain since Gallup began its general election survey in March. It's also up from his statistically insignificant lead before leaving for the Middle East and Europe on July 19, when he was nominally ahead, 45 percent to 43 percent.

"A key question remains as to whether this 'bounce' is short-term (as happens to bounces in some instances following intense publicity surrounding a convention) or if his lead will persist -- the answer to which will become evident in the next several days," Gallup's Frank Newport said in a news release.

Gallup's daily tracking is a survey of 1,000 adults nationwide. The results of Monday's poll are based on interviews conducted on July 24-26 among 2,692 registered voters. Its margin of error is 2%.