OTTAWA - Canadian observers of the U.S. presidential primaries appear to be warming up to Barack Obama.
A new Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll puts Canadian support for Obama in a statistical dead heat with fellow Democratic party contender Hillary Clinton.
Both Democratic nominees remain far and away the preferred option among Canadian respondents to become the next American president when compared to Republicans - a trend that holds true even among Conservative party supporters.
John McCain is the leading Republican nominee and appears all but certain to win the nomination, while the Democratic race is neck-and-neck.
The Harris-Decima survey found 38 per cent of respondents wanted Clinton to become president, compared with 35 per cent who favoured Obama and just nine per cent who preferred McCain.
A poll last month by Harris-Decima found Canadian support for Clinton far outstripped that for Obama, but a series of Obama victories in recent primaries appear to have raised his profile north of the border.
The latest telephone survey included just more than 1,000 respondents and was conducted Feb. 8 - 12. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
