Polls: Kaine outpacing Obama in Virginia

Former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) is running slightly ahead of President Obama in the state, according to two new polls.

Kaine holds a narrow 47 to 46 percent lead over former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) in the Senate race, according to a new poll from NBC, The Wall Street Journal and Marist College, while Obama trails Romney there by 48 to 47 percent. 

In another new poll from Quinnipiac University, CBS and The New York Times, Kaine leads Allen by 51 to 44 percent, a slightly wider gap than Obama's 51 to 46 percent lead. That mirrors other recent polling of the state showing Kaine faring a bit better than Obama in the state.

Virginia is a crucial swing state for control of both the White House and Senate, and both races in the state appear to be coming down to the wire, though Kaine has held a slight lead over Allen in most recent polls. While Kaine's 2-point edge over Obama in both polls isn't a big gap, it could make the difference in what will likely be a very close race.

Kaine and Obama are close friends, and Obama chose Kaine to lead the Democratic National Committee during the first years of his presidency.

The Quinnipiac poll of 1,288 likely voters was conducted from Oct. 4-9 and has a margin of error of 3 percent. The Marist poll of 981 likely voters was conducted from Oct. 7-9 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percent.

---