More economic worry, plus an Obama lead among those who express it, spells a lead for the Democrat: In a head-to-head-match-up he's now supported by 52 percent of likely voters vs. McCain's 43 percent, the first significant advantage for either candidate among likely voters in ABC/Post polls.

Add third-party candidates Ralph Nader and Bob Barr and it's essentially the same, 51-43 percent.

This 9-point gap is a dominating lead by Obama that must be sending shudders through the McCain campaign.  Couple this poll with tonight's breaking Times story on how Rick Davis—McCain's campaign manager—was receiving $15,000 monthly as recently as August 2008 from disgraced mortgage company Freddie Mac, and those shudders will quickly become shockwaves. 

On Sunday, in an interview with CNBC and The New York Times, Mr. McCain responded to a question about Mr. Davis’s role in the advocacy group through 2005 by saying that his campaign manager “has had nothing to do with it since, and I’ll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it.”

It is clear that either Rick Davis lied to the man whose campaign he is running, or McCain himself lied to the American people about Davis' financial ties to the company at the epicenter of the current financial crisis. 

It is panic mode in McCain HQ tonight.