Barack Obama is widening his lead over John McCain, now running ahead of him 52 percent to 38 percent among registered voters with 10 percent undecided in a Pew Research Center poll conducted Oct. 16-19. The margin of error is 2 points. That's a 4 point gain from Pew's poll conducted Oct. 9-12. Obama's margin when only likely voters are included is 53 percent to 39 percent.
Pew says a "widespread loss of confidence in McCain appears to be the most significant factor in the race." Forty-one percent of voters see McCain as "having poor judgment" compared to 29 percent for Obama. Thirty-four percent say he is too old to be President, up 11 points from mid-September. Voters view Obama as the more inspiring candidate by 71 percent to 37 percent.
Obama leads McCain by 21 points when voters are asked who can best handle the economy, a gain of 12 points since mid-September. He now leads 48 percent to 42 percent on who can best handle Iraq, after trailing McCain on this issue by 7 points.
Other toplines of the poll:
Voters now have an unfavorable view of Sarah Palin by 49 percent to 44 percent compared to mid-September when they viewed her favorably by 54 percent to 32 percent. Sixty percent of women under 50 see her unfavorably, up from 36 percent last month.
Sixty-five percent give the Obama campaign a grade of "A" or "B" compared to 34 percent for the McCain campaign.
Voters say McCain has been too personally critical of Obama by 56 percent to 39 percent while 69 percent said Obama has been "not too critical" of his opponent.
Seventy-two percent of voters believe McCain is well-qualified to be President while 53 percent say that of Obama.
Obama leads among independents by 18 points.
The two are tied among whites and Obama leads by 94 percent to 2 percent among blacks.
Among the 23 percent of the electorate Pew classifies as the swing vote, 9 percent are "pure undecided, 6 percent lean towards McCain and 8 percent lean towards Obama. Swing voters are strongly critical of McCain's negative campaigning. They prefer McCain when it comes to selecting future Supreme Court judges. And on national security issues. Obama leads among them on the economy, education, health care and the environment.
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