McCain attacks hit Obama's poll edge

[Ron Burgundy]

AFP - Biting attacks by Republican John McCain on Barack Obama have narrowed the White House race to a near statistical tie, as the foes gird for the decisive stage of their battle, new polls show.

Ahead of the most intense two-and-a-half month drive to election day in recent memory, Democratic hopeful Obama holds only slim leads in national polls and in several important swing states.

A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll out Tuesday gave Obama a slim lead of 45 to 43 percent, within the survey's three point margin of error. In June he had led by 12 points, though other polls at the time had the race slightly closer.

A Quinnipiac University poll on Tuesday also showed Obama's national lead over McCain slipping -- he led 47 to 42 percent, down from a 50 to 41 percent lead nationally in the same poll a month ago.

The new surveys reveal doubts about whether Obama is ready to be president, as his pick of a running mate is imminent, and a week before he is due to be formally crowned the Democratic nominee.

Obama will hope that television coverage of his vice presidential nominee selection within the next few days, and the Democratic National Convention in Denver will give him a polling "bounce."

McCain however will seek a similar boost from his vice presidential pick and convention the following week.

A RealClearPolitics average of national polls gave Obama a three point lead, down two percent from a month ago, while a CNN poll of polls average had Obama up by four points on Tuesday.

The LA Times/Bloomberg data suggested some voters were still troubled by first term senator Obama's lack of experience, and revealed a slump in his favorable ratings to 48 percent from 59 percent in the last such poll in June.

When voters were asked if McCain had the right experience to be president, 80 percent said yes, while 48 percent said Obama lacks the necessary experience for the job.

There were also lingering questions about Obama's love of country. Eighty-four percent of those polled found McCain strongly patriotic, while only 55 percent said the same of Obama.

On Tuesday, the Illinois senator lashed out at McCain on just that question, after his rival said his opposition to the Iraq war troop surge policy was fueled by political ambition, not the US national interest.

"Let me be clear: I will let no one question my love of this country. I love America," Obama told military veterans in Florida.

There is still some good news for Obama, as most polls still suggest he is favored on the prime election issue, the economy.

And the Obama campaign says it is expecting to mobilize a massive turnout in swing states, which could render many polling models obsolete.

Latest polling data follows a barrage of attacks by the McCain campaign, which have suggested that Obama, 47, is a vacuous celebrity who lacks the experience or grounding in core American values to serve as US president.

"All the negative attacks from the McCain campaign seem to have been paying off," the Times quoted its poll director Susan Pinkus as saying.

The Quinnipiac poll also revealed questions about the Obama's experience. By a two-to-one margin, respondents said that McCain was better qualified to deal with a resurgent Russia.

Senator McCain, 71, has attempted to leverage the fallout of Russia's showdown with Georgia to portray Obama as lacking in commander-in-chief credentials.

He led 55 to 27 percent when likely voters were asked who was best qualified to handle Moscow.

"In dealing with Russia, even a large minority of Democrats think McCain would do better than Obama," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"We'll have to see how important this issue becomes in the Fall campaign."

Polling in several battleground states also appears to be showing an erosion in Obama's support over the last month.

The LA Times survey was conducted between 1,375 registered voters between Saturday and Monday with a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,547 likely voters nationwide, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080820/pl_afp/usvote [link]