Barack Obama has opened a double digit lead over John McCain in Wisconsin.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state—conducted the night before the second Presidential Debate—shows Obama attracting 54% of the vote while McCain earns 44%. That’s quite a change from a month ago when Obama held just a two-point advantage.

Obama is viewed favorably by 58% of Wisconsin voters, McCain by 52%.

Forty-eight percent (48%) named the economy as the most important issue at a time when just 8% rate the nation’s economy as good or excellent. Sixty-one percent (61%) say it’s in poor condition. Only 5% of voters say that economic conditions are getting better while 82% say they are getting worse.

The recent economic turmoil has clearly helped Obama both in the state and nationwide. In Wisconsin, 52% say they trust Obama more than McCain on economic issues. Just 43% take the opposite view and trust McCain. Nationally, Obama has been gaining ground steadily in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll ever since the Wall Street debacle began to dominate the news.

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Obama leads among voters under 65 while McCain has a slight advantage among senior citizens. Investors are evenly divided between the two candidates, but Obama leads by a two-to-one margin among non-Investors. McCain leads by a wide margin among regular churchgoers but trails among those who rarely or never attend services (full demographic crosstabs available for Premium Members).

No Republican presidential candidate has carried Wisconsin since 1984, but the last two elections were particularly close. In 2000, Al Gore won the state by only 5,000 votes, and four years later John Kerry carried Wisconsin by just 10,000 votes out of three million cast.

Rasmussen Markets data shows that Democrats are currently given a 84.8% chance of winning Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College votes in November. With release of this poll Wisconsin shifts from "Leans Democratic" to “Likely Democratic” in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator. NOTE: Factors other than the latest Rasmussen Reports poll impact the Balance of Power ratings. The current status is indicated on the table in the upper right hand corner of this article.

Forty-two percent (42%) of Wisconsin voters say Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, is doing a good or excellent job, but 29% rate his performance as poor.

President Bush’s job performance gets good or excellent marks from 30%, but most (52%) say his job record is poor.