Barack Obama has evidently opened up a significant early lead in the general election.

The latest Newsweek poll shows that Obama has a double-digit lead over McCain, 51 percent to 36 percent, among registered voters nationwide.

Obama leads among younger voters between 18 to 39 by 66 percent to 27 percent. The two candidates are statistically tied among older voters.

This gives Obama a big bounce as he and McCain were in a statistical tie during the last Newsweek poll. At that time, Obama was still facing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.