Obama still holds commanding lead over Romney in Illinois, new poll shows

Any talk of Republican Mitt Romney narrowing the gap with President Barack Obama in Illinois is bunk, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

We Ask America, a subsidiary of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, found that Obama had 57 percent of the vote compared to 41 percent for Romney.

The group surveyed 1,198 likely voters in an automated poll Tuesday. Its margin of error was plus or minus 2.95 percentage points.

Romney held leads over Obama Downstate (51-46 percent) and in the collar counties (55-44 percent). But Obama more than offset those advantages in Chicago and suburban Cook County.

The president led Romney in the city by an 82-16 percent margin. And in suburban Cook, the spread was 66-31 percent in Obama’s favor.

“There’s been a surprising amount of conjecture coming our way lately about the possibility of Mitt Romney inching closer to Barack Obama in Illinois. We’ve not paid much attention that that conjecture until it started to be uttered in some national circles and a handful of reporters we respect called to ask if there was anything to it,” the group said on its website. “There isn’t.”