Obama Sports 24-Point Lead over McCain

While November may be months away, Democratic candidate Barack Obama holds a comfortable lead over Republican rival John McCain, according to the latest Field Poll.

As of this month, Obama holds a large 24-point lead over the Arizona senator, doubling his lead from a year ago.

Despite fears he would not reel them in, Obama has acquired many of Hillary Clinton's supporters, therefore boosting his support. Obama also has a 2-to-1 lead among California's likely female voters.

The latest Field Poll, run July 8-14, surveyed 672 probable California voters for the November presidential election.

Some of the poll highlights show:

-- Democrats back Obama 78 to 9 percent, compared with the softer support for McCain in his own party - 65 to 16 percent.

-- Three times as many Obama supporters as McCain voters describe themselves as "very enthusiastic" for their candidate - 51 to 17 percent; a full 27 percent of McCain's supporters describe themselves as "not enthusiastic," compared with just 5 percent of Obama's supporters.

-- Obama has a nearly 4-to-1 lead - 64 to 18 percent - among independent and decline-to-state voters in California, and he also leads by more than 2-to-1 among those Californians who describe themselves as holding "middle of the road" political philosophies.

-- In geographic areas, the Illinois senator has a 6-to-1 lead over McCain in the Bay Area and leads 61 to 27 percent in Los Angeles - two areas that make up 44 percent of the state's population. McCain leads Obama in one geographic area of the state, the Central Valley - but only by 40 to 39 percent. Finally, McCain leads Obama 44 to 35 percent in inland counties, but Obama leads McCain 62 to 24 percent in coastal counties.

-- Among Latino voters, Obama enjoys a huge edge - 64 to 21 percent - and he is widely preferred over McCain by Asians (59 to 23 percent) and by African Americans (89 to 5 percent).

The Field Poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points overall.