Poll-Watch: Obama up in 3 Battleground States; Nader Polling Strong

According to an Opinion Research Corporation poll of four crucial battleground states released today by Time Magazine and CNN, Barack Obama is leading John McCain in Nevada, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, while McCain is essentially tied -- with a 1 percent lead that's well within the margin of error -- in Colorado.

Obama's up by 5 points in Nevada and Pennsylvania -- both statistically significant -- and 13 points in New Mexico.

McCain holds a lead among whites in all four states polled.

A significant caveat is that the poll asked about an Obama/Biden ticket versus John McCain, who will pick a running mate after the Dem convention.

Ralph Nader and Libertarian candidate Bob Barr were also offered as potential choices (the Green Party's Cynthia McKinney was not, despite the fact that the Greens have ballot access in all of the states surveyed except for Pennsylvania). Barr pulled in between 1 percent (PA) and 5 percent (NV).