Obama 8 Points Stronger in Washington State

According to a new poll by SurveyUSA, Sen. Obama beats Sen. McCain 51% to 44 in a head-to-head matchup. McCain downs Clinton 46% to 45 in the same poll. In "How Obama Transforms the Electoral Map," I endeavored to show that Obama transforms the electoral map in a way Clinton cannot, competing in red states and handily winning some swing states. While I gave Washington to Clinton in my analysis, the numbers to date suggest that Washington State's 11 electoral votes would be hotly contested in a Clinton-McCain matchup.

Obama is strong in the Northwest generally. Obama crushed Clinton by 62 points in Idaho, by 24 in North Dakota, by 37 in Washington and by 23 in Wyoming. In Oregon, Obama leads Clinton by double-digits in advance of its May 20 primary and McCain by 9 points in a general election matchup.