If you had to vote today? It would be a tie, new poll finds

Last update: April 10, 2008 - 7:57 PM

Republican Sen. John McCain has erased Sen. Barack Obama's 10-point advantage in a head-to-head matchup, leaving him essentially tied with both Democratic candidates in an Associated Press-Ipsos national poll released Thursday.

The survey showed the extended Democratic primary campaign creating divisions among supporters of Obama and rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and suggests a tight race for the presidency in November no matter which Democrat becomes the nominee.

An AP-Ipsos poll taken in late February had Obama leading McCain 51-41 percent. The current survey, conducted April 7-9, had them at 45 percent each. McCain leads Obama among men, whites, Southerners, married women and independents.

Clinton led McCain, 48-43 percent, in February. The latest survey showed the New York senator with 48 percent support to McCain's 45 percent. Factoring in the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, Clinton and McCain are statistically tied.

RX FOR MORTGAGE CRISIS

Changing a course he set two weeks ago, McCain called for federal aid to distressed homeowners Thursday, saying, "There is nothing more important than keeping alive the American dream to own your own home."

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting introduced a plan that he said would offer "deserving" homeowners the opportunity to "trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable loan that reflects the market value of their home."

Under McCain's plan, homeowners facing foreclosure could apply for federal assistance, and the government would help them get new, affordable loans. Homes would have to be owners' primary residences, and owners would have to prove that they could afford the new loans, which would be 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages.

The new lender would receive a federal guarantee of the new mortgage. McCain's plan would cost $3 billion to $10 billion and help as many as 400,000 homeowners, his aides said.

LOSING POINTS WITH WOMEN

Women like Clinton less now than when the primary season started in January, a national poll released Thursday found.

The senator was the only remaining presidential candidate to suffer a negative shift among women who had changed their opinions in the survey conducted by Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.

Overall, the survey showed that more than 40 percent of women had changed their opinions of the Democratic candidates, Clinton and Obama. About 30 percent had changed their opinions of McCain.

However, of the 41 percent whose views have shifted on Clinton, 26 percent said they now like her less while 15 percent like her more. With Obama, 45 have changed their opinions but 23 percent now like him more and 22 percent less. With McCain, 15 percent view him more favorably and 15 percent less favorably.

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