Aug. 6, 2008
CBS Poll: Obama Holding Off McCain
New CBS News Poll Shows Obama Overseas Trip, McCain Ads Failed To Alter Still-Fluid Race
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Poll: Working Class For Obama
A new poll shows Presidential candidate Barak Obama is now leading John McCain among "working class whites." Jeff Greenfield breaks down the numbers.
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Candidate Branding Battle
Presidential candidates John McCain and Barak Obama are getting personal in their campaign ads. Dean Reynolds reports on the success of this tactic.
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Search for results from the latest CBS News national polls on the president, the campaign and more.
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Poll Positions
Listen to CBS News director of surveys Kathy Frankovic dissect the data to see what's driving public opinion.
Obama's overseas trip, which was widely seen as a success, has not enhanced perceptions of his effectiveness as a commander in chief. Just 20 percent of those surveyed say Obama is "very likely" to be an effective commander in chief, down 4 percentage points from last month. McCain is seen as "very likely" to be effective by 38 percent of respondents, down eight points from last month but still significantly ahead of Obama.
The most important issues for voters, however, are domestic: 36 percent of registered voters cite the economy and jobs as their top concern, easily eclipsing the war in Iraq at 17 percent. Gas and oil prices were cited by 9 percent of registered voters, followed by health care at 8 percent and the environment at 5 percent. A substantial majority of those surveyed - 70 percent - say the candidates are not doing enough to address their top issue.
Indeed, voters appear overwhelmingly concerned with the home front: Seventy-seven percent of registered voters say the next president should focus more on domestic issues than foreign policy issues. Just 8 percent say the next president's primary focus should be international issues.
McCain and Obama fare about equally when it comes to voter perceptions of how they will handle the economy. Fifty-two percent of registered voters say they are either "very" or "somewhat" confident that Obama will make the right decisions on the economy; fifty percent are "very" or "somewhat" confident McCain will.
Read The Complete Poll:The 2008 Campaign
And voters believe the next president can make a difference. About two in three say a president can "do a lot about" both the national economy and the price of gasoline.
Americans’ assessment of the economy remains grim. Eighty-three percent describe the condition of the economy as "bad," and the number who describes the economy as "very bad" has increased to 43 percent, up from 35 percent last month. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed say the economy is getting worse.
The Horserace:
Obama's lead over McCain is built on stronger support from Democrats, liberals, African Americans, voters under age 45 and women. Most former supporters of Hillary Clinton are backing Obama, as are a plurality of working class whites, a group Obama struggled to attract during the primary.
McCain leads among conservatives, Republicans, white evangelicals and voters age 45 and over. The presumptive GOP nominee has a narrow lead with men and with whites.
Independents are evenly split between the two candidates.
About one third of those voters who prefer one of the candidates say they have not yet completely made up their minds. But while this group is roughly evenly split between McCain and Obama supporters, an enthusiasm gap remains: Obama’s supporters are three times more likely to be enthusiastic about their candidate.
About two in three McCain supporters say they are "satisfied" with the Arizona senator, though 17 percent say they are "dissatisfied." Just six percent of Obama supporters are "dissatisfied" with their candidate.
More than half of registered voters say they are paying "a lot" of attention to the campaign.
Obama's favorable rating has fallen 2 points, to 37 percent; his unfavorable rating stands at 32 percent. He still leads McCain on this front, however: The Arizona senator is viewed favorably by 33 percent of registered voters and unfavorably by 34 percent.
McCain does have slightly more credibility than his rival: Slightly more than half of registered voters say Obama says what voters want to hear instead of what he believes; a smaller percentage, 44 percent, say they same of McCain.Poll Database
Search recent CBS News campaign polls.
Thirty percent said that the candidates' choices of their running mates will have a great deal of influence on their decision. That’s twice the number who said vice presidential picks would matter in 2000, when George W. Bush and Al Gore were preparing their campaigns. (Read more on that part of the poll here.)
Iraq, China And President Bush:
McCain has an edge on handling the war in Iraq. One in four voters are "very confident" McCain will make the right decisions on Iraq, while just 14 percent say the same of Obama.
More than half of registered voters are at least somewhat confident that Obama will make the right decisions on Iraq, however. And while 47 percent are "not confident" that he will make the right decisions, that percentage is just slightly higher than percentage who say the same of McCain (43 percent).
Nearly half of those surveyed say the troop surge, which McCain supported, is making things better in Iraq, up from 17 percent in June of last year. Forty-five percent say things are going well overall for the U.S. in Iraq, while 49 percent say things are going badly.
Most Americans (62 percent) think the recent economic expansion in countries like China and India has been bad for the U.S. economy. Just 14 percent say the growth has had a positive effect.
Nearly two in three say President George W. Bush should attend the Beijing Olympic Games, as he plans to do. Twenty-eight percent say he should avoid the games due to China’s record on human rights.
Just 7 percent of Americans see China as an ally. A majority - 60 percent - say the country is friendly, but not an ally. Twenty-three percent describe China either as unfriendly or an enemy.
President Bush's approval rating stands at 25 percent, equaling his all-time low reached in June.
Uncommitted Voters:
CBS News re-interviewed voters who said they were uncommitted, including those who had a candidate but said their minds could change, when we first spoke with them in a CBS News/New York Times poll in mid-July. In the July poll, that was about 36 percent of all registered voters.
The most recent round of interviews suggest that these uncommitted voters remain largely up for grabs.
Seven in ten remain uncommitted. And while a quarter of this group now say they have made a commitment to a candidate that they don’t think will change before the election, about as many as a month ago don’t have a candidate choice at all yet.
This group seems to have become less interested in the campaign since last month. When asked in mid-July how much attention they’d been paying to the 2008 campaign generally, 45 percent said they’d paid a lot. When asked in this poll how much attention they’d been paying in the last few weeks, only 18 percent reported paying a lot of attention.
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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,034 adults nationwide, including 906 registered voters, interviewed by telephone July 31-August 5, 2008. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample and for registered voters could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. For the uncommitted voters section, CBS News re-interviewed 331 uncommitted voters first interviewed by CBS News and the New York Times July 7-14th 2008. This poll was conducted by telephone August 1st - 5th 2008. Error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample of uncommitted voters could be plus or minus five percentage points. Error on measures of individual change is much smaller.
©MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 1143 CommentsMcSame flip flops and lies even more than the real McBush. Can anyone please give me one good reason to vote for this war monger? Or maybe the corporations just want another Alzheimers moron like Reagan they can control.
Posted by noloyalisti
Nope.
He is a cartoon!
He reminds me of the President of France.
He''s Hollyweird Cool!
I''ll take Hillary Bit*h, before Obama.
Save us....
Obama, God of the hip and Cool!
He is a cartoon!
He reminds me of the President of France.
He''''s Hollyweird Cool!
I''''ll take Hillary Bit*h, before Obama.
Save us....
Obama, God of the hip and Cool!
Posted by republic1776 at 06:43 PM : Aug 06, 2008
HATER!!!!!
Why don''t you move to Russia.
Try posting your Ideas there!
You make your Grandmom vomit, I bet
I think Paul is thinking about running on the LP ticket. http://www.BarrPaul08.com , I just cant bring my self to vote for McCain. He seems like his age might be wearing on him a bit. The last thing we want is for McCain to end up a puppet., like hes already showing signs of. Did you see where that reporter stumped him and he just sat there not saying a word for like 2 minutes??? Unreal. Or the clip of him cussing, man what a potty mouth. LOL I think the video was at http://www.McCanes.com This election season is just one big dissapointment after another. The only that makes it worth watching is the candidates gaffs and antics. If you havnt seen McCanes reaction to the Paris tape go to http://www.mesocash.com, Hallarious.
Hater of a socialist, communist Government.
You must really be a screw up in life to think that the government will give you "Free: health care.
Why would you wish the government to middle man anything in your life?
They will rape it!
Most blacks will vote for Obama, because he is "black"
No he is not%u2026.
He''s a poor excuse for a black man.
He is a millionaire
A ghetto landlord.
Vote Obama/Clinton 2008
New CBS News Poll Shows Obama Overseas Trip, McCain Ads Failed To Alter Still-Fluid Race
Its difficult to believe in a poll made by a far-leftWing newspaper like THE NEW YORK TIMES.
Why don''''t you move to Russia.
Try posting your Ideas there!
You make your Grandmom vomit, I bet
------------------------------------------------------Posted by republic1776 at 06:45 PM
Hahahaha - what a jagazz! You sit here typing insults about Obama all day long, then someone says something about McCain and you get all uppity. What a hypocrite you are. Besides, why don''t you say one positive thing about your candidate rather than railing on Obama all day long. Jeeeeeez. Typical jagazz neo-con wannabe.
Vote Obama/Clinton 2008
Posted by republic1776 at 07:00 PM : Aug 06, 2008
I think you are on the wrong site. I must be looking for the KKK website. I can''t help you out with that but I''m sure you can Google it....
Are you going to throw racists remarks or are you going to say anything of consequence
Kind of like America needs another neo-con, geriatric moron who entered his geriatric wife into a stripper contest yesterday? LOL - You got a tough few months ahead of you dumbazz. How does it feel to try to hold up the tattered GOP flag after the 8 years of Bush, sleepy McBush thinking that Iraq and Pakistan share a border, Stevens inditment, "Wide Stance" Craig, etc. etc.? And you sit here and insult Obama all day long. Moron.
Ever been to Philadelphia?
Our forefathers would vomit at your welfare state!
I''ll bet you still have pimples on your face!
Our forefathers would vomit at what you faux patriot neo-cons have done the once great country they fought for. You and your ilk have disgraced the US and you continue in the proud GOP tradition here on this board. LOL The core of Republican''s contribution to America: Fear and Smear.
The Name "EddyNewHope"
You are a ****?
Its difficult to believe in a poll made by a far-leftWing newspaper like THE NEW YORK TIMES.
Posted by republic1776 at 07:08 PM
Show''s how much you know son. Go back to mama and tell her an adult told you to shut it ya idiot.
Despite the constant smears by John McCain and junkyard dogs like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, the "middle class" continue to reject "tax cuts for the rich" and embraces government offering a helping hand.
After 8 long years of Niel Bortz and these clowns defending BIG OIL profits, Americans want to send their kids to college to learn and have fun not war in the Middle East.
Yes it''s morning again in America.
(smile)
Our forefathers would vomit at your welfare state!
Posted by republic1776
How could anyone with your lack of historical knowledge know waht our forefathers would say.
The Name "EddyNewHope"
You are a ****?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by republic1776 at 07:09 PM
Bwaaaaah! Are you for real? Wow man - you''re like a bad cartoon character of a Republican. McCain would be proud of your support. LOL
Don''t expect special rights for being a ****!
Keep saying taht and maybe you will start believing it.
Its difficult to believe in a poll made by a far-leftWing newspaper like THE NEW YORK TIMES.
Don''t expect special rights for being a ****!
----------------------------------------------------
Posted by republic1776 at 07:12 PM
Hey folks - Here you have the ardent McCain supporter. Behold - the height of GOP''s contribution to the United States: Idiocy incarnate. Hahahaha - wow. Keep it coming. You''re making my point for me. LOL
I think there is a civil war in brazil you need to go fight in.
The repubs are really enthralled with sheeyt, is it a part of their genetic makeup or is it a learned behavior
Get a haircut!
Drop acid, if you dare!
I think not!
You are a wimp...
I bet you still live with your Mom!
the election was stolen?
Awe come on! You can do better than that. That''s just sad and pathetic. Really? I''m a wimp because I won''t do drugs? Are all the "cool guys" like you doing it? Wow - I''m impressed. Still not one reason to vote for McCain? Sad... very sad. LOL
I think there is a civil war in Brazil you need to go fight in. yeah baggie pants go fight the "insurgents"
Posted by rudy654
Noway Jose.....fair and square..
Where the hel# do you get this number ???Google .....
Posted by vietnam21 at 07:18 PM : Aug 06, 2008
What happened - the United States lost...
McCain Opposed Equal Pay Bill for Women.
McCain Voted to Gut the Family and Medical Leave Act. In 1993.
McCain opposed spending $100 million to prevent unintended and teen pregnancies.
McCain opposed legislation requiring that abstinence-only programs be medically accurate and scientifically based.
McCain voted NO on legislation that would help reduce the number of teen pregnancies by providing funding for programs to teach comprehensive, medically accurate sexuality education and other programs to prevent unintended teen pregnancies.
McCain opposed Title X, the nation''s family planning program.
McCain opposed requiring insurance coverage of prescription birth control.
McCain opposes comprehensive *** education.
McCain unsure where he stands on government funding for contraception.
McCain opposed repealing the "global gag rule."
McCain supports overturning Roe v. Wade.
Posted by IOWEIGN
Vote for republican 4 ever..
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