in Obama to handle the economic crisis than they do in McCain , and are more likely to blame Republicans for the recent turmoil than Democrats . Beside an advantage on the economy , Obama is also benefiting from a demographic shift that has reshaped Virginia politics . For the last 10 presidential elections , Republicans have been able to bank on Virginia delivering its 13 electoral votes to the GOP . President Bush won Virginia by 8 percentage points in both 2000 and 2004 , and President Bill Clinton was never able to capture the state when he ran in 1992 and 1996 . But the explosive growth of Northern Virginia in the last decade has changed the state 's electorate . Drawn by government jobs in nearby Washington and high-tech jobs in the Dulles corridor , the growing population in Northern Virginia is more liberal than the mostly rural southern portion of the state , which has remained reliably Republican . In 2000 , Bush carried Northern Virginia 49 percent to 47 percent , but in 2004 , Sen. John Kerry , the Democratic presidential nominee , carried the area 51 percent to 48 percent . Virginia ``
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Virginia has n't backed a Democrat for president in 44 years , but economic concerns and changing demographics are giving Sen. Barack Obama a chance to steal the once reliably red state from Republicans . Sen. Barack Obama waves as rain falls on a rally in Fredericksburg , Virginia , in late September . Polls earlier this year showed Sen. John McCain , the Republican presidential nominee , leading Obama , his Democratic rival , in Virginia by a healthy margin . A Virginia Commonwealth University poll taken May 12-18 had McCain leading 47 percent to 39 percent . But as the financial crisis has shaken voters ' confidence in the economy , Obama has begun to open a lead in the state , as he has done in other battleground states . The latest CNN poll of polls has Obama leading McCain 49 percent to 45 percent . A CNN/TIME/Opinion Research Corporation poll conducted September 28-30 shows Obama with an even bigger lead over McCain , 53 percent to 44 percent . The CNN poll 's margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points . Polls show that voters have more confidence