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By MATT GOURAS Asscoiated Press Writer HELENA, Mont. (AP) A new poll shows that Democrat Barack Obama could be edging ahead of Republican John McCain in Montana.

Obama is at 44 percent and John McCain is at 40 percent in the Montana State University-Billings poll released Thursday. The poll reverses others from earlier in the fall that showed McCain with a lead in the state.

The poll of 403 Montanans was conducted from Thursday though Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Both Obama and McCain did a pretty good job in the poll of holding their party's base, but Obama held an advantage among self-described independents.

By a large margin, respondents said they thought McCain had run a more negative campaign.

Predictably, McCain got better marks on the foreign relations issue while Obama scored better on the economy.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 10-23-08 1204CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list