The Royal Gazette’s latest political poll showed the One Bermuda Alliance maintaining its lead over the governing Progressive Labour Party.The OBA became the first opposition party in years to lead in a poll when it took a 38 percent to 32 percent lead over the PLP in MindMaps’ September poll.It has now maintained that lead, securing 41 percent support compared to the PLP’s 35 percent when voters were asked who they would choose if an election were held now.The poll suggests that voters, a large bloc of whom often say they are either undecided or who won’t say who they are voting for until the last minute, are beginning to make up their minds ahead of the next general election.So around a quarter of the electorate are still undecided, and while people can also change their minds, it seems clear that the OBA has some traction.That will be disappointing to the PLP. Going into September, the OBA had some momentum from its leadership contest and was basking in the glow of being new.But Premier Paula Cox was able to score some points between September and the beginning of this month, notably announcing some strong candidates and introducing a number of more business-friendly policies.These may have gained the PLP some support, but the OBA added support too, so little has changed. It is the OBA which is closer to the magical 50 percent mark while the PLP will have to work harder to get there.Of course, there’s a great deal of time between now and the next election, assuming that the next available date is July when the students have returned. And no one was elected on the basis of a poll. It’s votes that count.But the trend seems to be running towards the OBA and away from the PLP. This is supported by the approval ratings and favourability scores of different politicians.Ms Cox saw her approval rating rise from 23 percent to 26 percent. And if you add in those who are on the middle without strong feelings either way, a total of 56 percent don’t disapprove of her performance. Similarly, 34 percent of voters view Ms Cox favourably and 61 percent don’t view her unfavourably while 36 percent do.By contrast, OBA Leader Craig Cannonier is viewed favourably by 33 percent of voters, about the same as Ms Cox, but only 22 percent view him unfavourably.This means Mr Cannonier has the capacity to build more support than Ms Cox, simply because he remains an unknown quantity to many voters. At this point, that’s an advantage.On the party level, 19 percent of voters approve of the PLP’s performance since the election and another 27 percent are in the middle. A worrying 52 percent disapprove.For the OBA, just 17 percent approve of its performance since its inception, but 35 percent are in the middle and 29 percent disapprove. So this again suggests the OBA, while not wowing anyone, has more to gain.However, support for the parties remains divided on racial lines. The OBA’s surge has been due almost entirely to a hardening of white support, while more than half of black voters now say they will vote PLP.In that respect, the OBA has not so far succeeded in breaking the racial nature of voting in Bermuda. But what is clear is that a large number of voters, most of them black, remain undecided, and it may be that the economy is the biggest factor for them.Certainly, confidence in the economy remains very low. Since the incumbent tends to suffer in a bad economy, it would seem the PLP must aim for a recovery sooner rather than later, while the OBA’s best tactic is to focus on economic issues and to show how it would do a better job of managing the economy than the present government.