Poll Tracker

The CNN Poll

• The number of voters who believe that McCain will follow President Bush's policies rose by 6 points to 56 percent, which is not a good tiding for McCain given that the poll also found that Bush hit an all-time low for a CNN survey with only 24 percent approving of his handling of the Presidency. Obama runs 18 points ahead of McCain and 42 points ahead of Bush when it comes to voter confidence in who best can handle the economic crisis.
• Unfavorable views of Sarah Palin are on the rise. Twenty-seven percent of voters saw her unfavorably a month ago, and that figure is now 40 percent. A majority of voters now believe she is not qualified to be President.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll

• Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who conducted the survey with Democrat Peter Hart, said, "Over the past couple of weeks, McCain has absorbed a very tough, one-two punch. First, the financial crisis... Second, the debates. These two things have clearly led to a momentum shift in this campaign, where Obama has slowly started to [increase] his lead."
• Thirty-four percent of voters said they felt reassured by Obama's reaction to the financial crisis compared to 29 percent who felt less reassured. For McCain, 38 percent were less reassured and 25 percent felt more reassured. Obama leads McCain by 17 points on who would better handle the economy, while McCain has a 6 point lead when it comes to Iraq.
• Those surveyed said by a 50 percent to 29 percent margin that Obama and Joseph Biden bested their opponents in their debates.

CBS News poll

• The enthusiasm of Obama supporters for their candidate is 20 points higher than those of McCain.
• Four out of five voters say their minds are now made up.
• While two-thirds of voters said Biden was ready to step in if necessary and be President, only 37 percent said that of Palin.
• Obama and McCain are tied on the question of who would be an effective President.
• In contrast to some of the other polls, the number of voters who believe McCain would continue Bush's policies has gone down.
• Registered voters say 58 percent to 41 percent that they are very or somewhat confident in Obama to handle the economy compared to 53 percent to 44 percent for McCain.
• McCain leads among independents by 5 points compared to Oct. 1 when he was trailing Obama by the same margin.