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Poll shows trouble signs in Obama's lead

(Agencies/Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-07 07:41

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama may be the fresh face in this year's US presidential election, but nearly half say they're already tired of hearing about him, a poll says.

Democratic US presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama invites a man who interrupted his speech by shouting out the Pledge of Allegiance, to say it with him, puts his hand over his heart, and says the Pledge of Allegiance during a town hall-style meeting at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008. [Agencies]

With Election Day still three months away, 48 percent said they're hearing too much about the Democratic candidate, according to a poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just 26 percent said the same about his Republican rival, John McCain.

Obama, the 47-year-old Illinois senator who might become the first black US president, has dominated political news coverage much of the year. According to an ongoing Pew study, Obama has appeared in more news stories this year and more people say they have heard more about him than McCain, the longtime Arizona senator who also ran for president in 2000.

Two-thirds of Republicans and about half of independents said they've heard too much about Obama, as did a third of Democrats, a significant number.

At the same time, nearly four in 10 said they've been hearing too little about McCain -- about four times the number who said so about Obama. The poll was conducted from Aug. 1-4 and involved telephone interviews with 1,004 adults. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Obama Riskier

Another poll by CNN and Opinion Research Corp. found that more registered voters thought electing Obama is riskier compared to McCain.

According to the poll released Wednesday, 57 percent of the 914 interviewed said that the Democratic presidential candidate would be a risky choice, compared to 54 percent having the same feeling about his Republican presidential rival.

A total 31 percent agreed that Obama could be a "very risky" choice while only 21 percent said the same of McCain, the poll showed.

But when asked which candidate would be "somewhat risky," 33 percent chose McCain, while 26 percent named Obama, it added.

According to the CNN's "poll of polls" released on Tuesday, Obama maintained a 5-percentage-point lead over McCain, at 48 percent to 43 percent, but there was still 9 percent undecided.