Democratic Race Dead Heat; McCain Favored Slightly

Rasmussen reports that Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are locked in a dead-heat for the Democratic nomination, with each polling 45% support. These numbers have held steady for the past week and bely the calls for Clinton to withdraw from the race.

Meanwhile, Republican John McCain is slightly more popular than either Democrat on a head-to-head comparison. He leads Obama by 51% to 41% and Clinton, 50% to 43%.

McCain also has higher "favorability" numbers, although they don't correlate directly with the head-to-head match-up. Nationally, McCain is viewed favorably by 55% of voters and unfavorably by 42%. Both Democrats have larger unfavorable than favorable numbers: Obama has a 46% favorablity rating and 51% unfavorable; and Clinton falls in at 44% favorable and 54% unfavorable.

Adding to the "too close to call" nature of the contest, 7.5 months out, is the electoral college, which is leaning the other direction. Democrats currently have an edge, leading in states with 200 electoral votes compared to McCain leading in states with only 189 votes.