Obama Surges in National Polls

Barack Obama has surged ahead of his Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton in three major national polls — and holds a double-digit lead in two of them.

In a New York Times-CBS News poll, Obama roundly defeated Clinton by a margin of 54 percent to 38 percent. That same poll in January had the two even at 41 percent.

The results of a new Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Monday showed Obama leading Clinton by a margin of 46 percent to 43 percent. Clinton had held a 5-point lead in an AP poll taken in early February.

And a poll by USA Today/Gallup also released on Monday showed Obama with 51 percent of the vote and Hillary with just 39 percent.

The Times poll found that in a race between Obama and presumptive Republican candidate John McCain, 50 percent of respondents said they would vote for Obama and 38 percent chose McCain.

But respondents were split evenly at 46 percent when the choice was between McCain and Clinton.