Politics | Barack Obama Poll: McCain Takes 5-Point Lead Negative campaign erases Obama's July edge By Kevin Spak Posted Aug 20, 2008 8:35 AM CDT Copied Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., waves as he boards the Straight Talk Air campaign charter airplane, Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) John McCain has erased Barack Obama’s 7-point July advantage to take a 46%-41% lead in the latest Reuters/Zogby poll, Reuters reports. McCain has turned around a perceived weakness on economy to now be favored by a 9% margin on the economy. The poll was taken Thursday through Saturday, as Obama was finishing a weeklong Hawaiian vacation that ceded the political stage to McCain. McCain spent his week emphasizing his views on the Georgia crisis and continuing his flurry of attacks on his opponent. Pollster John Zogby said the negativity is paying off, but he also believes Obama has hurt himself with rightward shifts on drilling and other issues. “That hairline difference between nuance and what appears to be flip-flopping is hurting him with liberal voters,” he said. Read These Next 11 people hurt in a "brutal act of violence" in Michigan. White House makes Hegseth put his polygraph away. A parent's nightmare, in a white cardboard box. A new book argues the Sacagawea legend is all wrong. Report an error