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<p>As Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama slug it out in the run-up to the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, newly released figures indicate that the drawn-out nature of the contest is harming both their chances in November (as Holly Yeager <a id="x-jt" href="http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/a-house-divided" title="reported">predicted</a> earlier this month).<br />

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A Reuters/Zogby poll released Wednesday puts GOP nominee Sen. John McCain comfortably above both Democrats in a hypothetical national run-off, <a id="vck:" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1824791220080319" title="Reuters reported">Reuters reported</a> this morning. McCain leads Clinton by 8 percentage points (48 percent to 40 percent), according to the poll — a slimmer margin than he held over Clinton last month, when the New York senator trailed McCain by 12 points.<br />

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For Obama, the tide is moving in the other direction. While the Illinois senator led McCain 47 percent to 40 percent in February, McCain now tops Obama by 6 percentage points (46 percent to 40 percent), the poll indicates.<br />

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Obama’s slide follows a long week in which he’s been on the defensive over charges that he’s done too little to distance himself from the controversial comments of his long-time pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Yesterday, Obama took the podium to address those charges head-on (as Yeager reported <a id="t_hf" href="http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/race-enters-the-race" title="here">here</a>). While his speech — delivered after the recent poll was conducted — received glowing reviews from <a id="q4ed" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/18/AR2008031802704.html?hpid=opinionsbox1" title="The Washington Post">The Washington Post</a>, <a id="i_da" href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-ed-speech19mar19,0,1008702.story" title="Los Angeles Times">The Los Angeles Times</a> and <a id="a:2_" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/opinion/19wed1.html?_r=1&amp;hp&amp;oref=slogin" title="The New York Times">The New York Times</a>, it remains unclear what effect it will have on the voting public.<br />

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One thing is certain: The Wright controversy has intensified the issue of race in the contest. And if pollster John Zogby is to be believed, race may be the biggest single impediment to Obama’s bid after all. As Reuters quotes Zogby this morning:</p>

<blockquote>&quot;And, just the closer he gets to the nomination, the tougher questions whites ask about an African-American candidate,&quot; Zogby said.<br />

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<p>(Among whites, McCain leads Obama by 21 points, today’s poll reveals.)<br />

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Zogby gained a reputation for accuracy in 1996, when he predicted the final presidential contest within 1/10 of a percentage point. His reputation slipped in 2004 when he made much-publicized statements about an easy victory for John Kerry, despite his own polling figures showing a much tighter race.</p>