Democrat Barack Obama has a steady 5-point national lead over Republican John McCain with six days left in the gruelling race for the White House, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
Obama leads McCain by 49 percent to 44 percent among likely voters in the three-day national tracking poll, inching up from his 4-point advantage on Tuesday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
"The daily numbers were essentially unchanged from yesterday, with just a slight improvement for Obama," pollster John Zogby said. "The race is frozen in place for now."
The Illinois senator still holds a solid lead with several crucial blocs of swing voters -- he is ahead by 15 points among independents, 10 points among women, 8 points among Catholics and 5 points among voters above the age 65.
The race is essentially tied among men and McCain moved into a slight 2-point lead among self-described blue-collar workers as the two candidates push towards next week's vote.
"Obama is holding steady," Zogby said.
Obama has held a lead of between two and 12 points every day since the tracking poll began three weeks ago. McCain, an Arizona senator, has not been able to push his support above 45 percent in that time, while Obama reached a high mark of 52 percent a week ago before drifting back.
About two percent of voters remain undecided in the race, which still has time for some last-minute shifts.