Obama Ahead Nominally Nationwide; McCain Strenghtening Base Of Support

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found that Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) nationwide lead remains nominal due to his failure to convince key voter groups that he is "ready to lead," while Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has consolidated his base of support.

Obama leads McCain, 45-43 percent, with 10 percent of voters undecided. The presumptive Democratic nominee is down from a 12-point lead in June, when he was ahead 49-37 percent.

In a four-way race, Obama edges McCain statistically as well, 42-41 percent, with independent Ralph Nader at 4 percent, Libertarian Bob Barr at 1 percent, and 11 percent of voters undecided. Obama's lead was even wider two months ago when third-party candidates were included at 48-33 percent against McCain; Nader had 4 percent and Barr 3 percent.

Ninety percent of Republicans are behind McCain, while 78 percent of Democrats have expressed support for Obama. McCain is also seeing a rise in his supporters enthusiasm as 61 percent of his backers say they are will vote for him, up from 45 percent in June. The Arizona senator is also making inroads among conservatives, with nearly three-fifths of evangelical backers enthusiastic about him, up from 47 percent during the same period.

Less than half of voters believe Obama, a freshman senator, has the "right" experience to take the White House, while 80 percent think so of McCain, a four-term senator.

Obama, however, is the better candidate when it comes to fixing the economy, which is the top issue nationwide according to 41 percent of voters. The war in Iraq is in second place with 31 percent, followed by gas price, 15 percent, and healthcare, 12 percent.

McCain maintains his lead on the issue of being commander-in-chief, with 43 percent of voters saying he is the candidate best on achieving success in Iraq, while 36 percent say the same of Obama. The presumptive Republican nominee would also protect the nation from terrorism better than Obama, 47-25 percent.

Fifty-five percent of voters think Obama is patriotic, while more than a third of voters have doubts about the Democrat's patriotism. Eighty-four percent think McCain is patriotic and 9 percent question his patriotism. Independents think McCain is more patriotic than Obama, 86-57 percent.

Only 30 percent of voters think McCain is too hot-tempered while more than 50 percent said he has no problem with his temper.

More than 70 percent of voters think the nation is ready for the first African-American president, while 17 percent believe it isn't. Fifty percent of those think the nation is ready support Obama, and 60 percent say the nation isn't ready support McCain.

Eight percent more men support McCain, but Obama leads among female voters by 11 points. The results are based on telephone interviews of 248 registered voters from Aug. 15-18. The margin of error is 3 percent.