CBS Poll: Obama Holding Off McCain
(CBS) Barack Obama leads John McCain 45 percent to 39 percent in the latest CBS News poll. Despite Obama's highly-publicized foreign trip and McCain's recent high-profile advertisements, the findings are unchanged since a CBS News/New York Times poll released last month. The percentage of undecided voters - 13 percent - also remains steady.
Obama's overseas trip, which was widely seen as a success, has not enhanced perceptions of his effectiveness as a commander in chief. Just 20 percent of those surveyed say Obama is "very likely" to be an effective commander in chief, down 4 percentage points from last month. McCain is seen as "very likely" to be effective by 38 percent of respondents, down eight points from last month but still significantly ahead of Obama.
The most important issues for voters, however, are domestic: 36 percent of registered voters cite the economy and jobs as their top concern, easily eclipsing the war in Iraq at 17 percent. Gas and oil prices were cited by 9 percent of registered voters, followed by health care at 8 percent and the environment at 5 percent. A substantial majority of those surveyed - 70 percent - say the candidates are not doing enough to address their top issue.
Indeed, voters appear overwhelmingly concerned with the home front: Seventy-seven percent of registered voters say the next president should focus more on domestic issues than foreign policy issues. Just 8 percent say the next president's primary focus should be international issues.
