Senator Barack Obama has increased his support substantially since a previous poll in early February, and his support is now almost as strong as that for Senator Hillary Clinton, new Harris Poll found.

Among all adults, 41 percent would now consider voting for him; the same number as would consider voting for Senator Clinton. In February, Clinton led Obama by 45 percent to 37 percent on this question;

Among Democrats, 59 percent would consider voting for Obama, up from 53 percent in February. This is still below the number of Democrats who would consider voting for Senator Clinton (68%), but her support is down from 74 percent in February.

Among Independents, people are slightly more likely to consider voting
for Obama (42%) than for Clinton (36%). In February Clinton led Obama
by 40 percent to 35 percent. When it comes to the public's first choice for president, Clinton still leads Obama by 15 percent to 12 percent among all adults. However, this is down from a 20 percent to 10 percent lead in February.

Among Democrats, Senator Clinton still has a clear (27% to 21%) lead over Obama as first choice, but this is down from 36 percent to 18 percent in February. Among Independents, almost equal numbers prefer Clinton (10%) and Obama (9%). In February Clinton had a two-to-one (16% to 8%) lead.

Senators Clinton and Obama are not, of course, the only Democratic contenders for the presidency. Former Senator John Edwards and former Vice President Al Gore still have many supporters, and they are the only other two candidates to have the support of more than 15 percent.

The levels of support for Edwards and Gore are similar, but Gore has picked up a little support since February, helped perhaps by his Oscar. Equal percentages of all adults (29%) say they would consider voting for Edwards and Gore, whose support is up slightly since February (26%).

Democrats are slightly more likely to consider voting for Gore (49%) than for Edwards (45%). In February, they were tied at 44 percent.

When it comes to their support as the first choice, six percent of all adults pick Gore and five percent prefer Edwards. Among Democrats, 11 percent prefer Gore (up from 7% in February) and eight percent choose Edwards (down from 9% in February).

This is a Harris Poll of 2,776 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive between March 1 and 12, 2007.