POLL WATCH:BARACK OBAMA'S lead over Republican John McCain has dropped by two percentage points to a lead of six since Thursday, according to a poll of polls carried out by the CNN news channel.
The daily sample says that 49 per cent say Obama is their choice to become the next occupant of the White House; with 43 per cent opting for McCain, while a critical 8 per cent are still undecided about their voting intentions, if they will vote at all.
The "poll of polls" analyses four surveys: an American Research Group poll conducted October 11th-13th; a Reuters/ C-Span/Zogby survey taken October 13th-16th; a Gallup poll conducted October 13th-15th and a Diageo/Hotline survey taken on the same dates.
Meanwhile, an AP/Yahoo News poll claims that McCain is losing ground among voters, with just 5 per cent more people viewing him favourably than unfavourably, down from 21 points in mid-September.
During the same time, the Democratic candidate went upwards, increasing a 5 percentage-point net positive rating to 15 points.
Obama is seen favourably by 57 per cent and McCain by 52 per cent - a close margin that masks the fact that their figures are heading in opposite directions.
Interestingly, many Americans, buffeted by daily shocks on the stock markets, are becoming irritated by the campaign the longer it goes on. Just 32 per cent now say that the contest excites them, while 41 per cent say that they are frustrated.
Six out of 10 of those polled by the Knowledge Network for the AP/Yahoo News poll who say that their opinions about the race have become more negative, declared themselves to be McCain supporters.
