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The public perceptions of where Barack Obama and John McCain have changed since February, when they were in the thick of the primary season, Gallup says. The change has been sharper in McCain's case. In February, only 30 percent of voters thought McCain was too conservative; now, 40 percent do. The number of voters who think his views are "about right" has dropped from 42 percent to 37 percent and those who think he's too liberal fell from 20 percent to 15 percent. Those that thought Obama too conservative amounted only to 8 percent in February and 9 percent now, those who considered his views about right have dropped from 47 percent to 43 percent, and those regarding him as too liberal have risen from 37 to 40 percent.

Looking at it by political affiliation, 60 percent of Republicans regard McCain's views as about right, a slight decrease from February while 68 percent of Democrats feel that about Obama, a 10 point increase from five months ago. The number of independents holding that view of McCain fell from 42 percent to 34 percent, and in Obama's case, from 49 percent to 44 percent.

Republicans seeing Obama as too liberal rose from 65 percent to 75 percent and Democrats seeing McCain as too conservative rose from 43 percent to 57 percent. As for independents, those who saw Obama as too liberal rose from 33 percent to 36 percent and McCain as too conservative went up from 33 percent to 41 percent.

The survey was conducted June 15-19.