National Gallup Poll Shows Obama Pulling away from Clinton - 51% to 42% Lead

PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama has reopened a significant lead over Hillary Clinton among national Democrats and now leads by a 51% to 42% margin, according to Gallup Poll Daily tracking from May 14-16. For the past few days, news coverage of Election 2008 has been dominated by the back and forth between Obama and the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain regarding various comments and positions on dealing with Iran and Hamas in the Middle East, and attempts by Obama to underscore the link between McCain and President Bush. Also implicit in this news coverage has been the assumption that Obama will be the Democratic nominee, with much less news coverage of Clinton -- despite the fact that she continues to campaign against Obama as Tuesday's primary voting in Kentucky and Oregon approaches. Some news accounts suggest that Obama may "declare victory" after the voting next Tuesday. [MORE]