Obama widens lead in national poll
Story Highlights
Barack Obama doubles lead over the past month, according to national CNN poll
Six out of ten questioned said they expect Obama to win
Financial crisis, President Bush, Palin could play a roll in Obama's gains
Bush is only 2 points higher than worst presidential approval rating in history
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By Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- A new national poll suggests Barack Obama is
widening his lead over John McCain in the race for the White House.
Sen. Barack Obama leads Sen. John McCain by 8 points, according to CNN's latest
poll.
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The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Monday afternoon suggests that
the country's financial crisis, record low approval ratings for President Bush
and a drop in the public's perception of McCain's running mate could be
contributing to Obama's gains.
Fifty-three percent of likely voters questioned in the poll say they are
backing Obama for president, with 45 percent supporting McCain.
That 8-point lead is double the 4-point lead Obama held in the last CNN/Opinion
Research Corporation poll, taken in mid-September.
President George Bush may be part of the reason why Obama's making gains. Only
24 percent of those polled approve of Bush's job as president, an all-time low
for a CNN survey. See the latest polling
"Bush has now tied Richard Nixon's worst rating ever, taken in a poll just
before he resigned in 1975, and is only 2 points higher than the worst
presidential approval rating in history, Harry Truman's 22 percent mark in
February 1952," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
And that's bad news for McCain, because the poll suggests a growing number of
Americans believe the Republican presidential nominee would have the same
policies as the current Republican president. Fifty-six percent say McCain's
policies would be the same as Bush, up from 50 percent a month ago.
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The financial crisis also appears to be contributing to Obama's increased lead
in the poll. Sixty-eight percent are confident in the Democratic presidential
nominee's ability to handle the financial crisis, 18 points ahead of McCain,
and 42 points ahead of President Bush.
More Americans appear to have an unfavorable view of Gov. Sarah Palin, and that
may also be helping Obama in the fight for the presidency. Forty percent now
have an unfavorable view of Palin, up from 27 percent a month ago and from 21
percent in late August, when McCain surprised many people by picking the
first-term Alaska governor as his running mate.
"A majority of Americans now believe that Sarah Palin would be unqualified to
serve as president if it became necessary, and her unfavorable rating has
doubled," Holland said.
Another hurdle for the Arizona senator is expectations. Six in 10 questioned in
the poll predict that Obama will win the November election.
The poll was conducted Friday through Sunday, just after President Bush signed
the $700 billion federal bailout into law. By a 53 percent to 46 percent
margin, Americans oppose the bill.
"One in five might have supported a different bill, but one in three believe
that the government should have stayed out of the crisis completely and let the
markets attempt to recover on their own. A majority think that the bailout
package will not prevent the economy from going into a deep and prolonged
recession -- but they turn thumbs-down to another bailout package if this one
does not work. Only one in five would support more assistance beyond Friday's
$700 billion package," Holland said.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted by telephone on October
3-5. The survey questioned 1,006 people. The survey's sampling error is plus or
minus 3.5 percentage points.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/06/poll.of.polls/index.html
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