Obama's lead over McCain growing - at a price

Obama's lead in the polls over rival John McCain is growing, as Ewen MacAskill reporting for the Guardian from Washington reports.

Barack Obama is opening a clear lead over John McCain after polls at the weekend showed the public overwhelmingly awarding Friday night's presidential debate to the Democratic candidate.

The polls suggest McCain did not benefit from suspending his campaign and flying to Washington last week to help deal with the financial crisis.

The gap could see an increase in more personal - and ugly - attacks on Obama. An early sign of that came yesterday in a row over a dead soldier's bracelet. Obama was accused of wearing the bracelet against the wishes of the soldier's mother.

With five weeks until the presidential election, Obama appears to have broken the impasse that had seen the two in a dead heat in polls over the past month.

A USA Today poll, published yesterday, showed 45% of those questioned felt Obama had done better in the debate than McCain, who registered 34%. The public view is at odds with the media, which overwhelmingly judged it to be a draw.

Other polls, including the Rasmussen tracking poll, showed voters drifting towards Obama. The Rasmussen poll put Obama on 50% and McCain on 44%, which would give the Democratic candidate a landslide victory.

This lead is expected to increase dramatically if Sarah Palin tanks during the vice presidential debates scheduled to take place on Friday (1:00AM).

I will definitely be watching - with a prayer!