Black Voters Shift to Obama

Sen. Barack Obama has cut Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's lead in half, thanks to a shift by black voters.
According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, Clinton was favored by 41 percent of voters in January, when she announced her candidacy for president. Then came Obama (17 percent), former Sen. John Edwards (11 percent) and former Vice President Al Gore (10 percent).
In the latest poll, those numbers show Clinton still ahead (36 percent), followed by Obama (24 percent), Gore (14 percent) and Edwards (12 percent).
According to the Post, white voters' preferences remained the same, while black voters shifted their support in a major way. In the previous two polls, Clinton had the support of 60 percent of black voters, and Obama had 20 percent. In the latest poll, Obama surged into the lead, garnering the support of 44 percent of the black voters, to Clinton's 33 percent.

Other results of the poll, according to the Post:

Obama's favorability rating among blacks rose from 54 percent to 70 percent.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has surged ahead of Sen. John McCain for the Republican nomination. He now holds a 2-to-1 advantage among all GOP voters, 44 percent to 21 percent.
White evangelical Protestants are strongly supporting Giuliani rather than McCain.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich placed third in the GOP race, with 15 percent.