Poll: Obama Retakes Lead Over McCain

CBS News/New York Times Poll Shows Obama With 5 Point Advantage, Voters Concern Over Palin

(CBS) 
Candidate Qualities:

While both Obama and McCain are now vying for the mantle of change agent in this election, Obama is seen by a far higher percentage of voters as likely to bring real change to Washington if elected President. Sixty-five percent of registered voters say Obama would bring real change, while just 37 percent say the same of McCain. Nearly 60 percent of voters say McCain would not bring change.

The differing views of the two candidates are driven largely by the differing views held by independent voters. (Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly believe their party's candidate will bring change.) Sixty-one percent of independents say Obama would bring real change; 35 percent say the same of McCain.

Forty-seven percent of registered voters say Obama is a different type of Democrat; roughly the same percentage say he is typical. McCain, a self-proclaimed maverick, is seen as a different type of Republican by a smaller percentage, 40 percent. Fifty-seven percent of registered voters cast McCain as a typical Republican.

The two candidates retain the strengths and weaknesses each has held for some time: McCain is viewed as better prepared and a more effective commander in chief, while more voters relate to Obama and feel he understands them.

Voters' opinions of the candidates have changed little since last week, and both hold similar favorable/unfavorable ratings. (Obama's favorable stands at 45 percent and his unfavorable at 35 percent; McCain's favorable is 44 percent and his unfavorable 37 percent.)

Each candidate’s age seems to work for him rather than against him. Fifty-eight percent of registered voters say Obama's relative youth helps him have fresh ideas; 24 percent say it makes him too inexperienced. Fifty-four percent say McCain's age makes him experienced, while 31 percent say it makes the job too difficult.

The Economy, Iraq, And President Bush:

CBS News detailed the Americans' pessimism about the economy in a poll released hours ago; as was noted, only 22 percent of Americans say the condition of the national economy is even somewhat good, and six in 10 think the economy is getting worse, not better.

About a third of all Americans say they are worse off now than four years ago, and one in five say they are falling behind financially. Eight in ten Americans think America is on the wrong track. (Click here to read more on Americans' view of the economy and the issues most important to them in the presidential election.)

President George W. Bush's job approval rating remains low, with just 27 percent of Americans approving of the job Mr. Bush has done as president.

A record 68 percent disapprove of the president's performance, the highest disapproval rating of any president recorded since Gallup began asking the question in 1938. (The two closest contenders are Truman, who had a 67 percent disapproval rating in early 1952, and Nixon, who had a 66 percent disapproval rating in August 1974.)

As detailed in the earlier poll, voters are slightly more confident in Obama's ability to handle the economy than they are in McCain's. But they are also more likely to think their taxes will go up in an Obama administration. Nearly half say Obama will raise their taxes, while roughly one in three say the same of McCain.

Forty-two percent of Americans believe the 2001 Bush tax cuts should be made permanent, down five points from last month. Thirty-six percent now believe the cuts should be allowed to expire.

For the first time in over three years, a majority of Americans think things are going well in Iraq. Fifty-two percent now say the war there is going at least somewhat well - up seven points from last month the highest number since just after the Iraqi elections held in January 2005. (Still, 46 percent say the war is going badly.)

Fifty percent of Americans say the troop surge is working, up 20 points from a year ago.

Still, most Americans continue to think the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq in the first place, and 53 percent now say the war in Iraq is not a part of the war on terrorism - more than ever before.

Nearly six in 10 Americans think the next president should try to end the war in Iraq within the next year or two, while about 4 in 10 think he should continue fighting in Iraq as long as he feels it is necessary.

Fifty-two percent of voters are at least somewhat confident that Obama can handle the situation in Iraq, while fifty-six percent are at least somewhat confident McCain can handle the situation. Voters are more likely to be very confident in McCain's ability: 36 percent say they are very confident that the Republican nominee can handle the situation, while 26 percent say the same of Obama.

____________________________________________________________________________
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1133 adults nationwide, including 1004 registered voters, interviewed by telephone September 12-16, 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 registered voters could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

[steeepe]

Thank God! Sanity may yet prevail in this election!

[jonsid2]

One thing that might help in this country is to do away with party affiliation - everyone should be an independent voter. That way, one can make up his or her mind which candidate gets their vote without feeling they have to be loyal to their party. If you''ve been a Redsox fan all your life it''s not easy to switch to being a Yankees fan even if you believe the Yankees are now a better team or vice versa. Don''t follow in the footsteps of your fathers or mothers. Be independent in your thinking, and we just might get the right person voted into office.

[sylvie2344]

Events are conspiring to make John McCain look like a complete idiot. He deserves it.

[kansas1946]

Just 17 percent of registered voters say McCain chose Palin because she is well qualified for the job of Vice President. Seventy-five percent say McCain made the choice to help win the election. (Even voters backing the Republican ticket share this view: 53 percent say the Palin choice was to help McCain win in November.)
**************************************

Well, duh. He just wanted a woman, any woman, to try and grab the po''d Hillary supporters. So he picks some woman with more baggage than the Clintons, just because she can shoot a moose. If I had a gun, I could shoot a moose. So what.
Her foreign policy experience is that she lives next door to Russia?? I live next door to an artist, but I still can''t draw a circle.
His ambition got in the way of his concern for his country.

[billpl-2009]

"Obama leads McCain 54 percent to 38 percent among all women. He holds a two point edge among white women, a 21 percentage point swing in Obama''''s direction from one week ago. "
McCian''''s selfish gamble hasn''''t paid off.
Posted by Policrypt

...silly
She''s not about the women''s vote
She''s "Sarahcuda"
She''s what men like ;-)

[kansas1946]

Don''''t follow in the footsteps of your fathers or mothers. Be independent in your thinking, and we just might get the right person voted into office.


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Posted by jonsid2 at 06:47 PM : Sep 17, 2008
*************************

You are exactly right. You should be looking at issues when you vote, not party. I dropped out of the Republican party because my Republican friends would get all huffy if I criticized a Republican. Now I can criticize Democrats and Republicans equally. McCain has come up with exacly zero ideas for improving our economy, how to handle Iraq, health care, education, etc.
Obama is by far the smarter, more articulate, candidate, with ideas that make sense on most issues. He may not accomplish all of those goals, but at least he has some.

[steeepe]

Obama dishonors women.
Posted by negrovote- at 06:52 PM : Sep 17, 2008

Obama is a saint compared to the way McBush treated his sick wife and the crass jokes he makes about women.

[kansas1946]

Obama dishonors women.




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Posted by negrovote- at 06:52 PM : Sep 17, 2008
+ report abuse
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Really?? How do you figure. He has been married for twenty years to the same woman, as far as we know he has been faithful and you can tell he really likes her.
Let''s see. McCain on the other hand, dumped his first wife for the trophy wife. Now who really dishonors women?

[soldat44]

Oh, like this is a non-biased poll...CBS news and The new york times. Ummmm...yea.

[kansas1946]

POLL: JOHN KERRY AHEAD OF BUSH BY 7 POINTS...

This was on ELECTION DAY...years ago.

POLLS BY THE DRIVE BY MEDIA MEAN NOTHING.




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Posted by tiddsanbeer at 06:58 PM : Sep 17, 2008
**********************************


You are right about the polls. They can be very misleading, but they are fun. And by the way, you might want to drop the "drive by media" thing. Everyone knows that comes from the dope addict Limbaugh and no serious political thinker would listen to that lump of dung.

[hypnotoad72]

I like Ms Palin for moral reasons (don''t mention her child; we all know peer influence and media influence DO have a power that no parent can ultimately fight against. Especially peer pressure, for no teenager wants to be an outcast. An outcast myself, Ms Palin has been correct in everything she has done, right down to blocking certain books. I''ve read up on some of those books too and, having lived some of the reality, I know in my heart, morally and society-wise, she''s right.

But the economy? McCain has admitted his ignorance, not a smart move. I know little of Ms Palin''s background, but from what little I do know, some of it does show SOME sense - taking an unneeded jet and putting it up for sale and undoubtedly doing more to keep costs reined in. I know nothing of Obama, but I know many baby boomers who love Biden - and they don''t take financial issues frivolously.

We all have seen how purported "free trade" has had a cost. A big cost, which has played a role in the current situation. That seems certain, unless something else comes out to disqualify my current belief.

But Obama, picking Biden, has shown he will put in experienced figures in areas he may not know; he does come across with a more consistent sense of genuine concern than McCain. Indeed, some of the people I mentioned a moment ago made jibes about Obama before his pick of Mr Biden.

(end of part 1)

[kansas1946]

Obama dishonors women.
Posted by negrovote- at 06:52 PM : Sep 17, 2008

Obama is a saint compared to the way McBush treated his sick wife and the crass jokes he makes about women.


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Posted by steeepe at 06:59 PM : Sep 17, 2008
+ report abuse
**********************************

Thank you. Can you beleive some of these McCain supporters. They can''t come up with one policy issue that they can support him on, but have to resort to this goofy Obama bashing that makes no sense.

[liberalme]

We need to see more than just the CBS/democratic party poll before we can confirm these results. CBS has tried to run Sarah Palin into the ground for the last 2 weeks.

Posted by JuanSaga1 at 06:52 PM : Sep 17, 2008

The republican party has pretty much done that to themselves.
She was clearly a political diversion.

The republicans have the mindset that everyone is stupid.
This campaign has been run the same as the last 2--what they don''t realize is, people are finally paying attention and questioning their "mis-statements, lies and sarcasm.

Change IS on the way!! Go Obama.

[hypnotoad72]

(beginning of part 2)

It''s going to be an interesting race, but whoever can, simply and succinctly and back it with some merit, tell Americans how to make it flourish again, will get the votes. And with even a couple die hard Republicans saying we should tax offshored services and goods, and those people are usually anti-tax, they know what it takes.

Hurry up debates. And, either way, we will be taking a leap of faith. And with 25% of New York City infected/infested with herpes, amongst other issues I''m compelled to agree with and partly because I''ve learned FROM EXPERIENCE (which I can''t regret because it taught me a lot, in ways most empty fools wouldn''t even begin to understand because the shell of the issue is more important to them than the core issue), that moral issue is far more relevant now than at any other time in the recent or distant past and Ms Palin was absolutely right.

Thank you for reading.

[hypnotoad72]

Nobody is going to fix the economy not McCain and surly not obama it has to fail it''''s in the cards

Posted by popstom12
----

Whose cards might those be? Miss Cleo''s? She must be running AIG these days. :-S

[joedante]

So how many States are Karl Rove and the Republicans planning to commit Election Fraud this year. And they can''t keep jailing Governors who win legally! Case point: Alabama: Siegelman, arch enemy of Rove. Went to bed, WON the state fair and square. In the middle of the night, Republicans flipped some Electronic Votes, and threated to JAIL anyone who wanted a recount. Siegelman spent 9 months in a Federal Prison on trumped up charges. The Fed Prosecuter was the wife of his Republican Opponent''s Campaign Manager.

[kansas1946]

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that Obama made the demand that Iraq should wait until after the election before talking about withdrawing U.S. troops.Full story NEW YORK POST.....


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Posted by mr22581 at 07:02 PM : Sep 17, 2008
+ report abuse
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What??? OK. So the very thing that would help Obama BEFORE the election, which is the Iraqi''s to be demanding the withdrawl of troops, he DEMANDS that they wait until AFTER the election, which would hurt him and help McCain. Boy, either he is really patriotic or really stupid.

[im4honesty]

PEOPLE ARE BEGINNING TO WAKE UP!!

[keystonebull]

CHANGE CHICAGO STYLE

Body count. In the last six months 292 killed (murdered) in Chicago, 221 killed in Iraq.

Sens. Barack Obama & *** Durbin, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Gov. Rod Blogojevich, House leader Mike Madigan, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan (daughter of Mike), Mayor Richard M. Daley (son of Mayor Richard J. Daley).....our leadership in Illinois.....all Democrats.

Thank you for the combat zone in Chicago. Of course they''re all blaming each other.

Can''t blame Republicans, they''re aren''t any!

State pension fund $44 Billion in debt, worst in country. Cook County (Chicago) sales tax 10.25% highest in country. (Look''em up if you want). Chicago school system one of the worst in cou ntry. This is the political culture that Obama comes from in Illinois. He''s gonna ''fix'' Washington politics?

[hotpaulie]

Republicans are going to get slaughtered in November!!!!

[srireddy-2009]

Yes......

Hope will win despair...

Hope will win fear....

Hope will win deceipt...

Hope will defeat McCain...

[robnkarla]

What is with the polling sampling?

For total respondants - More than 4% more independents than Republicans? I don''t think I''ve seen any figures that would support those ratios.

Read the fine print, it truly explains the poll.

[ugot2bfree]

Let''s see: McCain believes that corporate taxes should be reduced again when all the corporation will do with the extra money is send American jobs overseas. He believes in continuing spending billions on Iraq when that money is so needed here. He believes in taxing employer supported health insurance. And the scariest of them all is that he believes the economy is sound.

What amazes me is the number of Americans who continue to support this baloney. Are Americans really that stupid?

[dnsallday]

So how many States are Karl Rove and the Republicans planning to commit Election Fraud this year. Posted by joedante
************************************************************* As many as they need to, in order to continue with their stated goals of holding permanent dominance over Americans and the world.
They have got their hands in the mother America''s pocketbook. You don''t think they would give that up without drawing blood first, do you?

[robnkarla]

What is with the polling sampling?

For total respondants - More than 4% more Independents than Republicans? I don''''t think I''ve seen any figures that would support those ratios.

Read the fine print, it truly explains the poll.

[notopennshut]

McSame, who now claims the "reform" mantra, has been there for over 26 years, did nothing, said nothing (worthwhile!) changed NOTHING, and now claims that he would "reform" the whole government and structure if he''s elected??? Give us a break! If you can''t and didn''t for over two and a half decades, what makes you think you will be able to, now that you are 72, including a totally inexperienced VP. We may not have your wealth, but credit us with more brains that we can see through these lies. The cost of being president should not overcome those of honesty and integrity, and you my friend, are sorely lacking in these. Neither this world, nor Rome was built in a day. Yet you have had decades to help bring changes, but DID NOT. So how can anyone have any faith in anything you promise now? The truth is, we cannot afford McSame!

[juniperlea11]

"McCain will lead when it matters... "

He can''t even communicate! How can he lead? McCain is living in a fantasy world of $300,000 dollar ensembles and literally more houses than he can count. He is clueless when it comes to what the American people want or need!

[vwarp]

You heard it from the people as well as the people who have a brain and a clue.

While Palin remains popular among McCain voters, the poll suggests that the McCain campaign may have cause for concern. More than half of registered voters do not think Palin is prepared for the job of Vice President, and even McCain supporters cite %u201Cinexperience%u201D as what they like least about her.

Just 17 percent of registered voters say McCain chose Palin because she is well qualified for the job of Vice President. Seventy-five percent say McCain made the choice to help win the election. (Even voters backing the Republican ticket share this view: 53 percent say the Palin choice was to help McCain win in November.)

[juniperlea11]

"I doubt the Obama campaign is really that upset about what is going on in the financial markets since two of his economic advisors took hundreds of millions from fannie mae before leaving her high and dry."

I''m sure John "Keating Five" McCain isn''t worried with Phil Gramm teaching him what he didn''t know about the economy... like the Devil teaching Sunday School!

[sirello]

Anyone who thinks the media (including NPR!) is being biased toward Biden/Obama would be someone who believes Fox News is "fair and balanced". Tell me Fox is "fair and balanced" and you can take yourself out of the argument about bias in the media.

[luvienne]

KEATING 5

[vwarp]

McCain could care less about our economy. He''s for war and for all of Bush''s policies. He''s voted over 90% in favor of Bush''s policy. Now what do you think? Do your homework, this country is going down the drain financially and morally. Get real people!

[robnkarla]

Look at the sampling!

[sirello]

If you believe Rush Limbaugh you would think Fox New is "fair and balanced". Fortunately, fans of the lie machines, Limbaugh and Fox News, are in the minority.

[sirello]

John McCain, inventor of the Blackberry, will save the economy with a panel of experts from Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Merrill Lynch. McCain''s panel will replace Cheney''s energy "roundtable" comprised of the CEO''s of ExxonMobil and Texaco.

[blueskypie]

That is because the rich are loosing their money too, and they do NOT like to loose money. Now the people turn to the real issues that face this Country, a MASSIVE debt, failing financial institutions, jobs at an all time high, 500,000 foreclosures, two wars and on and on and on.

[matter77]

Meaningless ***.

[blueskypie]

And the republican trolls who keep degrading muslims is silly and people really are not falling for that. 9/11 was just that seven long years ago. The only musims you need to concern yourselves with are the ones who are buying up America, like the crown jewel in New York that was BOUGHT UP by Dubai. WAKE UP!!! Muslim muslim muslim...that doesn''t scare people these days. CHINA should scare you more as much money as we owe them.

[blueskypie]

JuanSaga1,
An Obama administration will be just like an Obama campaign, the very best and very brightest ivy league graduates on the planet, be they black or white doesn''t matter because he is a man who can CLAIM BOTH. Please stop being a "hater." There are bubbas voting for Obama also, not all of them are bigots.

[wdh3007]

Polls from liberal media are propaganda and don''t mean much now the media is saying every American is a racists if we don''t vote for Obama imagine that. They really must be getting desperate to even think such nonsense this is the very reason every single American of every color should vote Mcain/Palin

[donbl1]

McCain now leads in all the states he needs to win the electoral vote "except" he needs either NM or CO or something of equal electoral votes.

Michigan and MN are virtually tied and Penn is close.

Generic Democrat versus Republican for congress is now down from 15 pt lead by Democrats to 3 pts.

Going to be a sprint to the finish.

Better than some reality show on Fox.....

[skyk239]

No one serious believes Obama denounced his church. He made the sleezy politically expedient move one would expect from Obama. Only a fool would believe that Obama attended a racist anti semitic church for 20 years without being a racist and a anti semite.

Posted by JuanSaga1 at 07:32 PM : Sep 17, 2008

Do you fools HONESTLY think anyone cares about these lies and distortions anymore? They have been disproven so often and by so many sources you are only making a fool of yourselves. IF you want to make an impact on this race you should be telling people how McSame is going to change the Economy for the Better. THAT is the major issue with just about everyone I know. This spam is not worth a response

[sirello]

If McCain and Palin would stop lying for a few days they might be doing better. Palin''s ridiculous and utterly debunked "I said thanks but no thanks" routine is getting old. They sound like a couple of Chatty Cathy dolls, pull the string and hear them say the exact same words over and over again.

[blueskypie]

dj292009, whatever your title, that message about an Obama administration that I sent to Juansaga1 applies to you too. Obama has the best and the brightest working for him now. You can call him mo or joe or you can be stuck on stupid, the rest of us aren''t buying that bigotry.

[robnkarla]

Compare the sampling of the last poll to this one. Just check out the %s used for Rep/Dem/Ind.

Last poll with McCain up - higher Rep sampling
This poll - higher Dem and Ind sampling %

It''s all just sampling and means very little.

[sirello]

If McCain and Palin would stop lying for a few days they might be doing better. Palin''s ridiculous and utterly debunked "I said thanks but no thanks" routine is getting old. They sound like a couple of Chatty Cathy dolls, pull the string and hear them say the exact same words over and over again.

[pvperson]

McCain''s a liar and demonstrates everything WRONG in Washington, will he and his bible thumper improve anything? NOOOOOOOOOO, they''ll just make it worse.

[skyk239]

Polls from liberal media are propaganda and don''''t mean much now the media is saying every American is a racists if we don''''t vote for Obama imagine that. They really must be getting desperate to even think such nonsense this is the very reason every single American of every color should vote Mcain/Palin

Posted by wdh3007 at 07:38 PM : Sep 17, 2008

I agree in one respect! I believe the lead they show for Obama to be WAY below what it really is. Everyone I talk to is so fed up with the Republican Party AND the insistence of McSame to continue the FAILED Policies of Bush there''s no way he can win... ABSOLUTELY NO WAY!!

[blueskypie]

PTBAmerican,
Obama''s middle name is nothing to fear. Ignorance, now that is to be feared...just stuck on stupid.

[mommajommah]

come onnnnnn Bradley effect.