The survey found Obama, a first-term Illinois senator from Chicago, with the support of 55 percent among likely Democratic primary voters. Clinton, a two-term New York senator born in Chicago and raised in suburban Park Ridge, had 24 percent.
On the Republican side, McCain, a veteran Arizona senator, had the backing of 43 percent of likely GOP primary voters in the state, compared with 20 percent for former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, 15 percent for former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and 4 percent for Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
Despite the commanding advantages held by Obama and McCain, the survey still found 20 percent of Democrats and 17 percent of Republicans undecided heading into the primary. And among those backing a candidate for president, nearly a quarter of Democrats and more than a third of Republicans said they could still change their minds.
The survey, involving separate samples of 500 Republicans and Democrats who said they were likely to take part in the state's accelerated primary on Tuesday, has an error margin of 4.4 percentage points. The Democratic poll began Tuesday and the Republican poll began Wednesday; both polls concluded Thursday.
All of the Republicans were surveyed after McCain defeated Romney in last Tuesday's Florida primary and Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor, had announced he would drop out of the GOP contest.
Democrats were surveyed after the Florida balloting, and additional polling was conducted to reflect former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards' departure from the race.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ilpoll03feb03,0,6281126.story
