CBS Poll: Presidential Race Tightens

Survey Shows Obama Leading McCain 47 Percent To 43 Percent Among Registered Voters Nationwide Following V.P. Debate

(CBS)  In a sign that the race for president has returned to about where it was before the first presidential debate, the Obama-Biden ticket leads the McCain-Palin ticket 47 percent to 43 percent among registered voters in a new CBS News poll.

The Obama-Biden ticket led by a wider margin, nine percentage points, in a CBS News poll released last Wednesday, before Joe Biden and Sarah Palin faced off in the vice presidential debate. Obama-Biden led by five percentage points on Sept. 25.

In the new poll, the Democratic ticket leads by 3 percentage points, 48 percent to 45 percent, among likely voters.

Barack Obama holds a 20 point lead in terms of enthusiasm. Fifty-eight percent of Obama voters say they are very enthusiastic about their candidate, while only 38 percent of John McCain voters say the same about the Arizona senator.

Roughly one in five registered voters have yet to commit to a candidate, though they may lean towards one or the other.

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Read The Complete CBS News Poll On The Presidential Race And The Debates
...And On The Bailout Plan, Congress And The President

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Interest in tomorrow's presidential debate is high. Roughly two in three registered voters say they are "very likely" to watch the debate, about the same percentage who said they were very likely to watch the first presidential debate and the vice presidential debate.

A CBS News poll conducted last week showed that more uncommitted voters thought Obama won the first debate, and nearly half of all voters expect he will win this debate too. Just one in four expect McCain to win.

The Vice Presidential Debate:

Both Biden and Palin appear to have benefited from their performance in the vice presidential debate. Both now have 40 percent approval ratings - an increase of six points for Biden and eight points for Palin from their pre-debate approval ratings.

Palin's unfavorable rating of 32 percent is significantly higher, however, than Biden's 19 percent unfavorable rating. And on the key questions of whether each candidate is ready to be vice president, or, if necessary, president, majorities see only Biden as passing the test.

Seventy-five percent of registered voters say Biden is prepared to be vice president, and 65 percent say he could be an effective president; just 42 percent say Palin is prepared to be vice president and only 37 percent say she could be an effective president. Even Republicans are more likely than not to concede Biden could be an effective president.

As uncommitted voters did in a CBS News/Knowledge Networks poll conducted immediately after the debate, registered voters who watched the debate give the “win” to Biden, 50 percent to 31 percent.

Both Biden and Palin improved their overall images somewhat in the debate, and both are seen by about six in ten voters as sharing their values. About one in three registered voters say the vice presidential candidates will have a lot of influence on their vote in November, the same percentage that said as much before the debate.

The Top Of The Ticket:

Obama continues to lead McCain when it comes to his overall favorable/unfavorable rating: The Democratic nominee has a favorable rating of 46 percent and an unfavorable rating of 34 percent. Registered voters are more closely split on McCain, who holds a favorable rating of 40 percent and an unfavorable rating of 38 percent.

Sixty-two percent of registered voters see both Obama and McCain as having the ability to be an effective president.

McCain has distanced himself somewhat from President George W. Bush, who currently has among the lowest approval ratings of any modern president. In this poll, 38 percent say that if elected president McCain would generally continue Mr. Bush’s policies, down from 46 percent last month. This is the lowest percentage to link McCain to the president’s policies since last April.

Obama has lost some ground when it comes to perceptions of how he would handle the economy, though he still leads McCain when it comes to the issue.

Twenty-four percent of registered voters are "very confident" that the Democratic nominee would make the right decisions on the economy, down five points from before the presidential debate. Forty-one percent are not confident, up from 34 percent.

Fifteen percent are "very confident" in McCain when it comes to the economy, meanwhile, and 44 percent are not confident.

The race continues to be close among independents. In this poll McCain has a small edge, 44 percent to 39 percent, among the group. At the end of last week it was Obama with a small lead. Independents have swung back and forth between the two candidates for the last few weeks.

Obama is leading among Democrats, liberals, moderates and voters who supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries. He has not improved his support among former Clinton voters in recent weeks, and presently has the support of roughly two in three.

McCain is leading among Republicans, Independents and conservatives. He is also leading among whites, including both white Catholics and white evangelicals, as well as whites making less than $50,000 a year who do not have a college degree.

The Bailout Plan, Congress And The President:

Last week Congress enacted a financial rescue plan on its second try - and while Americans are more negative than ever about the state of the economy, a majority (51 percent) disapprove of the bailout package. Just 31 percent say they approve.

Americans continue to think Wall Street is more likely to benefit from the government’s economic bailout than the rest of the country. Sixty-percent say the plan will just benefit Wall Street, while 30 percent say it will help everyone.

A majority of Americans now disapprove of the government providing money to financial institutions. A week ago Americans were evenly split on the question; now just 36 percent approve while 52 percent disapprove.

And even though a majority remains much more accepting of the idea of helping homeowners, even that number is down from last week, with 54 percent now approving and 37 percent disapproving.

Few Americans approve of how either the president or Congress is handling the financial crisis. Both receive identical 21 percent approval ratings on the measure.

Fifty-five percent now say the economy is in very bad shape - the highest number ever recorded in a CBS News Poll. Only 11 percent think the condition of the economy is even somewhat good.

Moreover, Americans remain pessimistic about the economy’s future: three in four think the economy is getting worse. Only 3 percent think the economy is getting better, while one in five thinks it is staying the same.

President Bush’s overall job approval rating is 22 percent - the same as it was last week and the lowest of his presidency. Congress also receives dismal overall ratings from the public. Only 15 percent of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job, the same as last week. Seventy-two percent now disapprove of Congress’ job, including a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.

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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 957 adults nationwide, including 875 registered voters, interviewed by telephone October 3-5, 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 the sample of registered voters could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

[bmanny2000]

excuse me, but what sort of trash are we reading here? all in the name of free speech? No matter who you support, there''s a constitution, and 3 separate bodies :legislative, executive and judicial. And-if we have it right, and most who have taken basic civics courses, and passed, will understand this: there''s no coup coming, no rights being taken away, under EITHER candidate. It''s called checks and balances, and the system has been under assault by the very people who now use the absolutely truly remote possibility of its'' demise as cover for some of the absolute inane postings i have yet to see on the web.Voters-no scare tactics here-inform yourselves, for information is power. Fright comes from ignorance. you decide which way our country is headed.Ignore the ignorant, and get the facts. Then make your decision.And be sure to vote election day.

[jake0405]

You check all the polls you want whenever or wherever.
We all know the media is biased much to the left side.
However we all know its the actual ELECTION that decides the president of the United States.
For example Ronald Reagan was losing by alot in the polls, but what actually happened? He bacame the president.
Another would be George W. Bush. He was losing by a landslide on the polls against Gore and Kerry. But what happened? He beat them both to become president and beat John Kerry by a landslide.
Media would only be a distraction to our minds. Their goal is simple: To be biased
Once again we all know that media can really get into our minds. Its not polls that decide remember that. ITS THE ELECTION
So I ask all fellow Americans to decide what they think.
For its the people that decide.

[blackjewels]

Obama is unfit to be president.

[dave_p5]

Gallup tracking poll from 10/7 shows Obama taking an 11 point lead -- his biggest lead to date -- over Sen. John McCain, 52% to 41%.

Rasmussen poll from 10/8 has Obama ahead by six points and Research 2000 poll from 10/7 has Obama leading by 10 points.

[jake0405]

All i want is a fair coverage of the campaign.

All the media is biased and usually to the left side.
They slant the polls, they talk bad about Conservatives, and they give us false info.
they job is to persuade us or make us believe that McCain doesn''t have a chance.
I feel this is very unfair and dissapointing to hear.
All I ask of them is to TELL THE TRUTH and nothing but the truth.

[jake0405]

I strongly believe that Obama shouldn''t be President.
He is a dangerous man. He talks to us about dreams and goals, but would he achieve them?
The problem is that we don''t know.
He hasn''t had a lot of experience and we don''t know what he''s capable of.
Its a risk.
Even though I don''t fully McCain I still think it would be safer than Obama.
Obama hasn''t accomplised anything throughout his Senate years.
It is frightening to be blindly supporting Obama when we don''t know how will be.
Will we risk it???America may turn into a third world country if Obama becomes president

[questionnews]

Republicans=Blood Gangbangers. Affiliated colors-Red
Democrats=Crip Gangbangers. Affiliated colors-Blue

Both desire total control & to punish people in the other "Gang".

Both willing to commit crimes to advance their status & power in their "Gang".

Both blame the other "Gang" for all the troubles in the neighborhood.

Ideologically, political parties and organized street gangs have very few differences, aside from financing.

But at least street gang follow a code, which is more than either political party can claim.

[veteran22]

McCain is an erratic and unlucky gambler - His absolute worst gamble was Plain. Palin is an Alaska Independent Party (AIP) affiliate whose founder stated he hates the US and has no use for our flag. He encouraged his followers to infiltrate major parties to lobby for their terrorist goals.(founder was murdered over some small time explosives deal gone bad) The AIP has associations with Neo-Nazis and white supremacy groups. Timothy McVeigh,homegrown terrorist and truck-bomber, had ties to some of the same groups. Sarah Palin''s reading material consists of John Birch Society propaganda. (another rabid white supremacy group) Barack Hussein Obama is a patriot and will lead us to a government of the people, for the people and by the people, for we are the government(or should be except the Reflubs have stolen it, and used it as their private slush fund.) Put that rabid pitbull back in her cage and send her home.

[linymo]

Barrack Hussein Obama is a person who will lead America straight into communism as he seeks for the federal government to control all aspects of our lives. The feds under Obama, will seize property and abolish all freedom of speech that does not agree with Obama. Lookout America, the nation will be communist in less than 2 years under Obama as he legalizes all illegals and pays massive reparations to African Americans with your property which he will seize with Congress giving him the new powers. Normal Patriotic Americans will be smeared as racist or whatever as the Obama juggernaut grows and grows. Stupid liberals will have brought this upon themselves and they will be just as unhappy in the end as normal Patriotic Americans.

From Real1413

McCain is a senile fool who will finish the job that Bush started-bankrupting the Treasury for the benefit of the super wealthy....
Palin is just a clueless airhead. A talking v a g i n a. God help us if that bimbo should ascend to the Presidency.......

Real1413 "No truer words have ever been spoken" nice job.

[janet0001]

"Jake0405" i agree with you.

Most media have been so bias and i am so frustrated. CNN and CBS are included. Why can''t they just give us a FAIR coverage of this race and let us decide? This is their job!.

[kbdavis8]

After watching most of the debate and the news coverage after, my wife and I were wondering if we watched the same debate as the commentators and their guests. I think McCain was more on the point and more honest then Obama. Obama''s veiws change more in one day than most peoples underware.

[repub4you001]

McCain will end the bankrupt, socialist, social security and rightfully so. Americans need to stop begging government for everything and be responsible for their retirement.

[jake0405]

You check all the polls you want whenever or wherever.
We all know the media is biased much to the left side.
However we all know its the actual ELECTION that decides the president of the United States.
For example Ronald Reagan was losing by alot in the polls, but what actually happened? He bacame the president.
Another would be George W. Bush. He was losing by a landslide on the polls against Gore and Kerry. But what happened? He beat them both to become president and beat John Kerry by a landslide.
Media would only be a distraction to our minds. Their goal is simple: To be biased
Once again we all know that media can really get into our minds. Its not polls that decide remember that. ITS THE ELECTION
So I ask all fellow Americans to decide what they think.
For its the people that decide.

[jj2171]

There is so much anger here. Calm down. Neither candidate really deserves that much passion. They will both basically do the same thing once they are in office. Politician say they have a great plan and will make things better in order to get elected. Once they are elected their plans don''t stand up to the reality/complexity of the actual situation. Usually they end up with only a couple of imperfect paths to choose. Sometimes they pick the right one and sometimes they don''t. No matter who gets elected the situation (not their experience, judgement, or character) will dictate their decision on an issue.

Obama=McCain=Clinton=Biden=Palin=Bush=JFK=Ford=Carter=Politician

Calm down, work hard, and be responsible. If your smart or lucky things will turn out well for you. If your luck is not so good then you might have some problems.

The President won''t make this country better or worse. You will.

[bitinnails]

Obama looked smug and arrogant. McCain needs to calm down and not let Obama''s childish antics get to him. It''s a shame our country can come up with more worthy candidates than these two. The debates are a joke and that''s not really funny at all.

[wisc09]

McCain won tonight''s debate. He answered the questions unlike Barack-Hussein Obama. John McCain has a plan that will work, he also has strategy to the war on terror...not to give them our strategy via the media. Smart man. He has my vote, he will secure this country. and he knows the next great depression is coming, and he will help out the home mortgages...very smart man. He thinks ahead.

[loreenj]

Obama clearly won this debate, McCane/Palin really needs to stop spending their energy in this late hour during the debates and on the campaign trail spreading rumors and making typical politician cheap jabs on Obama character and deal with real issues at hand that%u2019s effecting the American people. They might actually have a chance to win my vote.

[bubba10766]

McCain talks about Obama not having experience, what about Palin? George Bush was Governor wasn''t he? Look where that has got us. 2 Palin talks how would take over in a crisis which is straight *** not talk. How are you going to handle the country''s affairs when you can''t even hand the small talk at home about safe ***? oh and thanks Congress but no thanks, where is all the money she took from them on a project that is now scraped It wasn''t returned. the only Pork Barrel I see has lipstick on! When are the LIES going to stop?

[nana2_3]

Think about this one people: McCain mentioned he would buy up all the bad mortgages. Well, isn,t that what has already been done with the bailout of Freddie and Fannie? More double talk!!