John McCain has gone from 3 points behind Barack Obama before the Democratic Convention to 3 points ahead in the latest Fox News poll conducted Sept. 8-9, leading 45 percent to 42 percent with 2 percent choosing "other," 2 percent saying they don't know and 10 percent undecided. McCain's lead is the same as the margin of error at 3 points. One major factor in the turnaround is that McCain now leads Obama 46 percent to 31 percent among independents after being statistically tied with him in August. That squares with a Gallup poll conducted Sept. 5-7 that saw McCain's support among independents rise from 40 percent to 52 percent.
McCain's favorable to unfavorable ratio is 60 percent to 33 percent compared to Obama's 57 percent to 36 percent. That's little changed from August. Sarah Palin's is 54 percent to 27 percent and Joseph Biden's is 51 percent to 29 percent.
As other polls have indicated McCain's choice of Palin as running mate has made more difference than Obama's selection of Biden. Forty-one percent of voters say the pick of Palin makes them more likely to vote for McCain compared to 31 percent who said it makes them less likely to do so, while 26 percent say it will make no difference to their decisions. Thirty-seven percent said the choice of Biden will make no difference compared to 35 percent who said it would make them more likely to vote Democratic and 25 percent who said it would make them less likely.
Voters are evenly divided on who they think will win the election, regardless of who their choice is. That's a sharp contrast to late July when they thought by 51 percent to 27 percent that Obama would win.
Here's how voters in the poll came down for Obama or McCain on the issues:
- Handling Iraq: McCain 52, Obama 39. A 6 point gain for McCain since August.
- Health Care: Obama 49, McCain 35.
- Economy: Obama 46, McCain 42. A 3 point gain for McCain since August. A Gallup poll today showed McCain gaining on the economy in even more dramatic fashion.
- War on Terrorism: McCain 55, Obama 35. Voters said by 55 percent to 35 percent that if there was another terrorist attack on the U.S. they would be more comfortable with McCain as President.
- Energy Independence: Obama 44, McCain 42.
Some other findings:
- When asked of the four candidates on the presidential tickets who understands best the problems of everyday life in America, Palin polled 33 percent, Obama 32 percent, McCain 17 percent and Biden 10 percent.
- Voters think Obama is a talker more than a doer by 49 percent to 34 percent, while they regard McCain as a doer more than a talker by 54 percent to 30 percent.
- If voters had to ask either Obama or McCain for advice on the toughest decision of their lives, they would go to McCain by a 50 percent to 34 percent margin. They are more evenly split if the choice was between Palin and Biden.
- We don't know quite what to make of this question - which candidate would be "best at surviving on their own" if stranded on a desert island? - but if one of them does end up in that fix, voters far and away believe McCain would do best.
- Thirty-six percent of voters say media coverage of the campaign has been even-handed, an equal number say it has favored Obama and 8 percent said it favored McCain.
- Voters believe 70 percent to 17 percent that Palin made the right choice to run for vice president despite her family situation and the fact that she has young children. Seventy percent said the pregnancy of her 17 year old daughter made no difference to them.
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