Sen. John McCain has pulled even with Barack Obama in the key state of Ohio according to a new Public Policy Polling (Democrat) survey. McCain and Obama are now even at 45%-45%, a stunning reversal from one month ago when Obama led McCain 48%-40% in the same poll, and from June when Obama led McCain 50%-39%. McCain has erased an 8-point deficit in just one month, and 11-points in two months.

John McCain has pulled even with Barack Obama in Ohio, according to
the newest survey from Public Policy Polling. Obama had led in PPP’s June and July
polls of the state. It’s 45-45 with 10% undecided.

One factor causing Obama problems is that he’s not doing as good a job as McCain of
getting folks in his party to vote for him. While McCain leads 89-7 among Republicans,
Obama’s lead is a narrower 75-17 among Democrats. Obama has the 45-28 edge with
independent voters.

The Democrats neglecting to choose Obama are disproportionately white, female, and
middle aged, an indication that it could be former supporters of Hillary Clinton who are
holding out.

“Ohio is one state, along with Pennsylvania and Michigan, where Barack Obama would
probably be well served by some joint appearances with the Clintons,” said Dean
Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “Democrats have a party id advantage in
Ohio but that won’t do much for them unless the voters in their party actually vote for
their nominee.”

Obama leads with women and voters under 45 while McCain leads with men and older
voters. McCain is up 49-38 with white voters and Obama is up 80-18 with blacks.