Barack Obama has emerged as the favourite among Democratic voters in the White House race for the first time while the vitriolic campaign intensified with a fresh slanging match on a photograph of Obama in a traditional African dress.
A CBS News/ New York Times Poll has found that Obama, who is leading in the delegate race, had 54 percent backing of democratic primary voters as opposed to 38 percent of Clinton, who faces a do-or-die battle in the the 4th March contests in Ohio and Texas.
The fresh setback came as polls indicated that the 60-year-old former first lady was fast losing her turf in the two states to the African American.
In January, the Clinton was leading by a 15 point margin nationally. Today/Gallup Poll released on Monday showed 51 percent for Obama to 39 percent for Clinton.
With a tough battle ahead, the vitriolic campaign was fuelled again by a photograph of Obama wearing a white turban and a robe during a 2006 visit to Kenya which appeared on the internet.
The photo was first circulated by internet gossip columnist Matt Drudge in The Drudge Report which said it purportedly came from a Clinton staffer through an e-mail but the New York Democrat dismissed the allegation as "laughable".
The Obama camp was not amused with manager David Plouffe accusing Clinton's campaign of "the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election."
But the Clinton surrogates hit back forcefully terming it as a strategy by Obama camp to distract the voters from real issues through a "divisive" campaign.
Obama has made substantial gains across most major demographic groups in the Democratic Party including men and women, liberals and moderates, higher and lower income voters, and those with and without college degrees, the CBS News/ New York Times Poll found.
But it also showed that there are signs of vulnerability for Obama in this national poll.
While he has a strong edge among Democratic voters on his ability to unite and inspire the country, Clinton is still viewed by more Democrats as prepared for the job of president.
And while he has made progress among women, he still faces a striking gender gap Obama is backed by two-thirds of the Democratic men and 45 percent of the women.
White women remain a Clinton stronghold.
When all voters are asked to look ahead to the general election, McCain is more likely to be seen as prepared for the presidency, able to handle an international crisis and equipped to serve as commander in chief than either of the Democratic candidates.
Even so, the Times said the poll provides a snapshot of Obama's strength after this first, frenzied round of primaries and caucuses, which knocked seven of the nine Democratic candidates out of the race.
These national polls, the paper noted, are not predictive of the Democratic candidates' standings in individual states, notably Ohio and Texas.
Source: DDNEWS
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