WASHINGTON — Buoyed by enthusiasm among Democrats and public concern over the economy, Sen. Barack Obama has captured a sizable lead over Sen. John McCain at the opening of the general election campaign for president, the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll has found.
In a two-man race between the major-party candidates, registered voters chose Democrat Obama over Republican McCain by 49 percent to 37 percent in the national poll.
On a four-man ballot including independent candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr, voters chose Obama over McCain by an even larger margin, 48 percent to 33 percent.
Obama’s advantage, bigger in this poll than in most other national surveys, appears to stem in large part from his positions on domestic issues. Both Democrats and independent voters say Obama would do a better job than McCain at handling the nation’s economic problems, the public’s top concern.
In contrast, many voters give McCain credit as the more experienced candidate and the one best equipped to protect the nation against terrorism — but they rank those concerns below their worries about the economy.
The Times/Bloomberg Poll of 1,115 registered voters nationwide was conducted June 19-23 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
