By Xinhua,
Washington : Both Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton can beat their Republican rival John McCain in the November general elections, according to a poll released on Wednesday.
The New Quinnipiac University poll found that Illinois Senator Barack Obama could beat presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain by 47 percent to 40 percent, while New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton could lead McCain at 46 percent to 41 percent.
The poll conducted from May 8 to May 12 came as U.S. media and political analysts lamented that the tied and prolonged Democratic presidential nomination race would deepen the party’s split and diminish its strength to take over the White House from Republicans.
With only five primaries left before the primary season ends on June 3, neither Clinton nor Obama has collected 2,025 delegates to the national nomination convention needed to secure the candidacy.
After a landslide win in the West Virginia primary on Tuesday, Clinton is heading to the next battlefield in Kentucky, where she also leads the poll.
Obama counts on the contest in Oregon on May 20, where he holds a 20 point lead over Clinton, 55 percent to 35 percent, according to a local poll released on Wednesday.
In the mean time, he is speeding up his campaign in key states in the general elections, posing as the party’s contender to challenge McCain.