Poll: Obama Fares Better Than Hillary Against McCain

Barack Obama would fare better than his Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head matchup with Republican John McCain if the general election were held today, according to a new Time magazine poll.

Obama outpolled McCain by a margin of 48 percent to 41 percent in the survey of nearly 1,000 likely voters. But Clinton and McCain deadlocked at 46 percent.

The reason, according to Mark Schulman, CEO of Abt SRBI — which conducted the poll for Time — is that independents tilt toward McCain when he is matched up against Clinton. But they tilt toward Obama when McCain is matched up against the Illinois Senator.

Respondents did favor Clinton over Obama for the Democratic nomination by a margin of 48 percent to 42 percent.

The Time poll also found that 62 percent of respondents want Clinton to name Obama as her running mate if she wins the nomination, while only 51 percent want Obama to name Clinton for the vice presidential spot.