UTICA, N.Y. – Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama slipped back into a statistical dead heat with Republican Party nominee John McCain, but still holds the advantage over McCain, the latest Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby likely voter poll shows.

In this latest report, McCain gained eight-tenths of a point, while Obama lost one full point.
While the worldwide economic system underwent dramatic turmoil last week, the poll shows the presidential race remarkably unchanged overall at the end of the first full week of daily tracking. Through the week, Obama has always held a small lead, as large as 6.1 points (on Saturday) and as little as 1.9 points (last Wednesday).

The rolling telephone tracking poll included a sample of 1,206 likely voters collected over the previous three 24-hour periods spanning four calendar days – approximately 400 per 24-hour period from Oct. 9-12, 2008.

Obama retains a substantial 17-point lead among independent voters, but that edge receded from 21 points yesterday. In terms of securing their political bases, both Obama and McCain are doing well. Among Democrats, Obama wins 86% support, while McCain wins 88% support among Republicans.

Three Day Tracking Poll 10-12 10-11 10-10 10-9 10-8 10-7 10-6

Obama 47.9% 48.9% 47.6% 47.6% 47.8% 47.1% 47.7%

McCain 43.6% 42.8% 43.8% 43.4% 44.2% 45.2% 45.3%

Others/Not sure 8.5% 8.3% 8.6% 9.0% 8.0% 7.7% 7.0%

Obama and McCain remain tied among men, while Obama leads by nine points among women.
Among those who consider themselves members of the investor class, McCain leads by a 49% to 44% margin. This McCain edge among investors is the same as yesterday but far less than the percentage by which President George W. Bush won four years ago. Among non-investors, Obama leads by a 51% to 39% margin, down slightly from yesterday.

Those who say they are liberals support Obama by a 83% to 11% margin over McCain, while McCain leads among conservatives by a 72% to 17% edge. Among moderates, 59% support Obama, while 35% support McCain.

The poll was conducted by live telephone operators in Zogby’s in-house call center in Upstate New York and carries a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points.