OBAMARAMA

John Zogby’s latest national poll shows Sen. Obama making strong gains in his support for the Democratic nomination, increasing 11 points since the last survey and trailing Sen. Clinton by only 8 points. Even more striking is how he fares when matched up against the Republican front-runners — and the major strides he has apparently made among African Americans.

According to Zogby, “New York Sen. Hillary Clinton clings to a shrinking lead over Illinois Senator Barack Obama in a national test of Democratic primary voter preference.” Zogby continues:

Among those who said they would vote in the Democratic primary or caucus for President, Clinton leads with 33% support, up 4% from our last telephone survey in early January. However, Obama has made dramatic gains in the last six weeks, moving from 14% support to 25% backing. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edward is a distant third, winning 12% support. One in five said they were undecided about which Democratic candidate to support.

Also of interest is this statistic from the demographic breakdown:

Clinton holds a 31% to 24% edge among white Democratic voters, while Obama leads among African–Americans, 36% to 27%. [Emphasis added]

We’ve discussed here before the likely shift of support among African Americans to Sen. Obama — though this is definitely an earlier-than-expected indication of that shift.

Additionally, Zogby notes that “Clinton’s support is just a bit weaker than that of Obama” since “a slight majority of Clinton supporters — 54% –- said they are likely to change their minds before they actually cast a primary or caucus vote, while 48% of Obama supporters agreed.”

Finally, and perhaps most significantly, Sen. Obama is the only candidate from either party who wins in every scenario in a head-to-head general election match-up. Have a look:

Zogby has bolded the winners in the head-to-head. As you can see, both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Edwards lose to Sen. McCain and Rudy Giuliani, while both beat Mitt Romney (though Edwards is mistakenly not bolded in that bracket). Only Sen. Obama is victorious in every scenario.

This is some serious data. The demographic shifts among African Americans and others toward Sen. Obama are certainly positive developments.

The only point of concern that jumps out of this is that, in a race that many have rightly observed is beginning absurdly early, peaking too soon can be a major liability. Sustaining this momentum will be key for Sen. Obama’s campaign. It’s something with which we can all help, too, by continuing to talk to our friends and family about what Sen. Obama can do for our country, by keeping the enthusiasm up at rallies and events, and by continuing to post and blog about the promise of an Obama presidency.

Numbers like these are just further evidence of the righteous wind this campaign has blowing at its back. Let’s make sure we put up the sails.