Palin advances Mccain ticket, says a new poll

New York, Sept 10 (PTI) The selection of Sarah Palin as a
running mate has given a major impetus to the campaign of
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, according to the
latest poll.

The poll released Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal
and N.B.C., shows that the Palin factor has lifted enthusiasm
among McCain's supporters.

It shows that a majority of voters are comfortable with
the idea of first term Alaska governor as vice-president
despite the national debate over whether she is experienced
enough for the job.

McCain's decision to pick a woman as his running mate was
designed, in part, to win over some of those voters, the
Journal noted.

It says that Palin effect helps explaining why McCain is
now even with his Democratic rival Barack Obama in the
head-to-head race.

The Journal survey found that 46 percent of registered
voters favoured Sens Obama and Joe Biden, while 45 percent
supported McCain-Palin ticket.

The poll was taken on Saturday -- two days after the end
of the Republican National Convention in St Paul, Minn --
through Monday night. It has a margin of error of plus or
minus 3.3 percentage points, meaning either candidate could be
slightly ahead.

The survey also holds good news for Obama, as more voters
said they were comfortable with him as president than they did
in a Journal poll three weeks ago.

Despite Sen McCain's progress, the poll shows Obama
voters remain more enthusiastic about their candidate, with 55
percent saying they are excited, up from 46 percent in
August.

The number of people who view Sen McCain as simply the
"lesser of two evils" was cut nearly in half, to 22 percent.
Just 12 percent of Obama voters see him that way.

Overall, both candidates emerged from their conventions
with more united parties. Almost nine in 10 Democrats say they
support the Democratic ticket, and nine in 10 Republicans
favour theirs.

While Clinton has given her full support to Obama, many
of her supporters have continued to express resentment about
her defeat and his decision not to name her as his running
mate.

Six in 10 of the Clinton voters say they now favour Obama
in November, up from 52 percent in August. About one in four
of these Clinton voters say that the Palin pick makes them
more likely to vote for McCain, but 31 percent said it makes
them less likely to do so.

While Palin has drawn more attention than her
counterpart, Sen Biden, the veteran Delaware lawmaker also
registered in the poll as a solid choice. More voters, 59 per
cent, were comfortable with him in the job for which he is
running than they were with any of the other three candidates.

Only 16 percent of voters said his selection made them
less likely to vote for the ticket, compared with 25 percent
who said that about Gov Palin. In fact, nearly six in 10
voters said his selection would make no difference compared
with just 40 percent felt that way about Palin. PTI DS