CNN polls show Obama making major gains in battleground states

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) -- Polls in five crucial battleground states in the race for the White House released Wednesday suggest that Sen. Barack Obama is making some major gains.
Sen. Barack Obama has gained ground in key toss-up states, polls show.

The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corp. polls of likely voters in Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada and Virginia suggest a shift toward the Democratic presidential nominee.
In Florida, the state that decided the 2000 presidential election, 51 percent of likely voters say Obama, D-Illinois, is their choice for president, with 47 percent backing Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
The last CNN poll taken in Florida two weeks ago showed the race for the state's 27 electoral votes tied at 48 percent apiece among registered voters.

A new CNN poll of polls in Florida, also out Wednesday, has Obama leading McCain by 5 points. The CNN poll of polls is an average of the new CNN poll and other new state polls.

Obama's also making gains over McCain in Minnesota, the state in which the Republican convention was held a month ago. Fifty-four percent of those questioned are backing Obama, with 43 percent supporting McCain, R-Arizona. That 11-point lead is much larger than the 2-point advantage Obama had in the last CNN poll taken in Minnesota a month ago.
It's a similar story in Missouri, where 49 percent of those polled are backing Obama and 48 percent supporting McCain. That's a gain for Obama, who was down 5 points to McCain in CNN's last poll in Missouri, taken three weeks ago.
Thursday's vice presidential debate will be in St. Louis, Missouri.

The poll also indicates Obama has a 4-point lead over McCain in Nevada, 51- 47 percent. CNN's last survey in Nevada, taken in late August, had McCain up slightly. A new American Research Group poll in Nevada puts McCain ahead by 2 points.
In Virginia, which hasn't voted for the Democrats in a presidential contest since 1964, the new poll suggests Obama has a 9-point lead, 53-44 percent.
The last CNN survey in Virginia, taken in mid-September, had McCain up by 4 points.

The new CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corp. polls are behind a shift in the CNN Electoral College Map. CNN is moving Minnesota and its 10 electoral votes, from toss-up to leaning toward Obama. And Missouri, with 11 electoral votes, is shifting from leaning toward McCain to toss-up.
With those moves, CNN estimates that if the presidential election were held today, Obama would win states with 250 electoral votes and McCain would win states with 189 electoral votes, with 99 electoral votes still up for grabs. To win the White House, 270 electoral votes are needed. Obama's lead is up from 40 points in CNN's last electoral map updated last week.

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