Quinnipiac University’s new Swing States Poll, released this morning, shows sharp gains for Barack Obama in three vote-rich swing states, prompting a top Quinnipiac figure to comment that “John McCain has his work cut out for him.” Said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute: “It is difficult to find a modern competitive presidential race that has swung so dramatically, so quickly and so sharply this late in the campaign. In the last 20 days, Sen. Barack Obama has gone from seven points down to eight points up in Florida, while widening his leads to eight points in Ohio and 15 points in Pennsylvania.”

The survey shows big gains for Obama in three key swing states:

Florida: Obama 51%, McCain 43%

Ohio: Obama 50%, McCain 42%

Pennsylvania: Obama 54%, McCain 39%

Factors, according to Brown, include Obama’s performance in the debate (he “clearly won”), opinions of Sarah Palin have “gone south,” and McCain’s poor handling of the financial crisis.

“Roughly a third of voters, and almost as large a share of the key independent vote, say McCain did more harm than good in trying to resolve the financial crisis,” Brown said. “[A]nd the share of voters who see the economy as the top issue has risen from roughly half to six in ten.”