John McCain and Barack Obama are now in a dead heat in the race for the White House, with each candidate garnering 42 percent of the vote, according to the latest CBS News poll.
That’s a significant change from a CBS poll last weekend, which showed the Obama-Biden ticket ahead of McCain-Palin by a margin of 48 percent to 40 percent.
The new poll was conducted from Monday through Wednesday, before McCain’s Thursday night speech at the Republican convention. But the number of McCain supporters who say they are enthusiastic about their candidate rose from 25 percent last weekend to 35 percent in the new poll.
Conversely, the number of Obama supporters who say they are enthusiastic about their candidate plunged from 67 percent to 55 percent.
Despite McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, Obama continues to hold an edge in women voters, 43 percent to 38 percent. But McCain’s support among white evangelicals has risen since the weekend, from 57 percent to 66 percent.
In the new poll, 46 percent of respondents said it is “very likely” McCain would be an effective commander-in-chief, compared to 24 percent who feel that way about Obama.
But 60 percent of respondents said Obama understands their needs and problems, compared to 44 percent for McCain.
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