While 79 percent of Republican delegates and 63 percent of Republican voters approve of President Bush's job performance, a plurality of delegates - 47 percent - say Bush has left the party in weaker shape and only 14 percent believe that it would help John McCain if Bush campaigned for him, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll. The delegate survey was conducted July 23-Aug.26. The poll figures for overall voters were taken from a survey conducted Aug. 15-20.

An interesting finding in the poll is the difference on some questions between the views of Republican delegates and Republican voters at-large.

Thirty-eight percent of delegates would like to see McCain be more conservative than Bush, 14 percent said he should be less conservative, 13 percent said he should follow the same policies and 35 percent weren't sure. But asked whether they believed McCain would in fact turn out more conservative, a lesser 24 percent thought he would.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans are concerned that John McCain would pursue policies that are too similar to those of President Bush, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted June 15-19. And, of that number, 49 percent say they are "very concerned." Gallup notes the tightrope McCain has to walk regarding Bush when it comes to extending his appeal beyond the Republican base without endangering it. Ninety percent of Democrats are very or somewhat concerned that McCain equals Bush as are 67 percent of independents, with high numbers of both putting themselves in the "very concerned" category. Fifty-five percent of Republicans are only somewhat or not concerned compared to 45 percent who are. As far as job approval, Bush still rates 60 percent among Republicans though only 28 percent among Americans at large.

(Interesting piece today in the Boston Globe: "Bush Base Yet to Rush to Donate to McCain.")

Gallup asked a kind of flip-side of the question for Barack Obama: how concerned are you that Obama would go too far in changing Bush policies. Forty-nine percent were somewhat or very concerned and 50 percent only somewhat or not-at-all concerned. Republicans obviously had the most concerns - 89 percent are worried about it of whom 56 percent are very concerned. Democrats are 68 percent on the not concerned scale compared to 31 percent who are, and independents 56 percent of independents are somewhat or not concerned compared to 42 percent who are.