Poll: Obama Up in Montana

Barack Obama leads John McCain, 48 percent to 43 percent in Montana, according to Rasmussen. In April, the numbers were flipped with McCain up 48 percent to Obama’s 43 percent.

The two presidential candidates have nearly identical favorability ratings in the state, but the view voters have of Obama is more extreme than of McCain. Obama leads McCain in both the very favorable and very unfavorable rating.

The last Democratic presidential candidate to win Montana was Bill Clinton in 1992, but Clinton won the state with 38 percent of the vote, thanks to a strong showing by Ross Perot who got 26 percent of the vote. Since then the state has been safely red in presidential elections, but both senators and the state’s governor are currently Democrats.

Obama beat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), 56.4 percent to 41.2 percent, in state’s Democratic primary on the last day of the primary.