Democrat Barack Obama has a 7-point lead on Republican John McCain in the US presidential race, and holds a small edge on the crucial question of who would best manage the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogbypoll released today.
More than a month after kicking off the general election campaign, Mr Obama leads Mr McCain by 47 per cent to 40 per cent. That is slightly better than his five-point cushion in mid-June, shortly after he clinched the Democratic nomination fight against New York senator Hillary Clinton.
But Mr Obama's 22-point advantage in June among independents, a critical voting bloc that could swing either way in the November election, shrunk to 3 points during a month in which the candidates battled on the economy and Mr Obama was accused of shifting to the center on several issues.
Mr Obama had a 44 per cent to 40 per cent edge nationally over Mr McCain on who would be best at managing the economy, virtually unchanged from last month. Among independents, the two were tied on the economy.
"There has been a real tightening up among independents, and that has to be worrisome for Obama," pollster John Zogby said. "It doesn't seem like Obama is coming across on the economy."
The economy was ranked as the top issue by nearly half of all likely voters, 47 per cent. The Iraq war, in second place, trailed well behind at 12 per cent. Energy prices was third at 8 per cent.
The faltering economy had been expected to be a weakness for Mr McCain, an Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner of war who has admitted a lack of economic expertise.
Mr McCain has portrayed Mr Obama, an Illinois senator, as a proponent of higher taxes, while Mr Obama has tried to link Mr McCain with president George W. Bush's unpopular economic policies.
Mr McCain backs an extension of Mr Bush's tax cuts, which are geared toward higher wage earners. Mr Obama supports tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners and calls for higher taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year.
In the face of surging petrol prices, Mr McCain has proposed lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling as a bridge to a new energy policy. Mr Obama sharply criticized the plan and said it would provide no real relief.
"On balance, McCain probably scored on oil drilling because he looked like a man of action," Mr Zogby said.
The polling was conducted Wednesday through Sunday, mostly after a public flap over comments by former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, a top economic adviser to Mr McCain.
Mr Gramm said the US had become "a nation of whiners" who are in a mental recession. Mr McCain quickly distanced himself from the remarks, which Mr Obama said showed how out of touch Mr McCain was on the economy.
When independent candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr, who are both in the process of trying to add their names to state ballots, are included in the survey Mr Obama's margin over Mr McCain grows to 10 percentage points, 46 per cent to 36 per cent.
Mr Nader and Mr Barr each picked up 3 per cent, but nearly all of their support came from Mr McCain. With Mr Nader and Mr Barr included, about 60 per cent of conservatives back Mr McCain, and 71 per cent of self-identified Republicans support him.
Mr McCain has struggled at times to solidify his support among conservative Republicans, and has moved to mend fences on issues like immigration and taxes where he has bucked the party in the past.
Mr Obama, an Iraq war opponent who has been labeled a liberal by Republicans, earned the support of more than one-fifth of voters who identified themselves as conservative.
Reuters