NEW YORK—Three weeks before Election Day, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama has a wide lead over Republican rival Sen. John McCain nationally, a new CBS News/New York Timespoll released Tuesday shows. The poll came one day before Wednesday’s debate, the final of three.
Sen. Obama now leads Sen. McCain 53 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, a 14-point margin. One week ago, prior to the last debate, that margin was just three points.
Among independents— a volatile group that has swung back and forth between Sens. McCain and Obama—Sen. Obama now leads by 18 points. Sen. McCain led among independents last week.
“Sen. McCain’s campaign strategy may be hurting hurt him,” according to a release from the pollsters. The New York Times generally endorses Democratic candidates over Republican candidates.
The poll was conducted among a sample of 1,070 adults nationwide, including 972 registered voters, interviewed by telephone Oct. 10-13. The potential error in the poll is plus or minus three percentage points.
Sen. McCain continues to have a clear advantage on being seen as prepared to be president, as he has throughout the campaign, the poll found. He leads Sen. Obama 64 to 51 percent.
Sen. Obama, 44, is only a junior senator, whereas Sen. McCain, 72, has spent nearly 25 years in Congress.
Twenty-one percent of voters say their opinion of Sen. McCain has changed for the worse in the last few weeks. The top two reasons cited for the change of heart are Sen. McCain’s attacks on Sen. Obama and his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as running mate.
“Obama is widely seen as running the more positive campaign: 61 percent of those surveyed say McCain is spending more time attacking his opponent than explaining what he would do as president. Just 27 percent say the same of Obama,” says the release.
Sen. McCain’s favorable rating has fallen four points from last week to 36 percent, and is now lower than his 41 percent unfavorable rating. Obama, by contrast, is now viewed favorably by half of registered voters and unfavorably by just 32 percent.
Sen. Obama holds a considerable edge over his rival on having the right “personality and temperament” to be president, with 69 percent saying Sen. Obama does and 53 percent saying Sen. McCain does. The Democratic nominee is also widely seen as more likely to make the right decision on the economy, the top issue for voters in a survey taken in the immediate aftermath of last week’s historic Wall Street losses.
“Opinions of the candidates could still change, and potential trouble spots remain for Obama, among them the fact that small percentages of voters cite Obama’s past associations with Bill Ayers (9 percent) and Reverend Jeremiah Wright (11 percent) as issues that bother them,” the release added.
Sen. Obama’s lead over Sen. McCain when it comes to the economy has grown since last week. A majority of registered voters now say they are not confident in Sen. McCain to make the right decisions on economic issues, while thirty-nine percent are not confident in Sen. Obama.
“There is, however, an opening for the candidates in this area: Fewer than one quarter are presently very confident in either Obama or McCain to make the right decisions on the economic crisis,” the release noted.
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