New ABC/WAPO Poll: Obama +4

A new poll out tonight from ABC/WAPO has uniformly good news as well as some areas where Barack can progress.

Highlights:

Obama has more work to do with Hillary's voters. This particular poll doesn't show much of a unity bounce. I think when she and Bill start campaigning for him it will go a long, long way toward getting those folks back.  

Almost nine in 10 Republicans now support McCain, while not quite eight in 10 Democrats said they support Obama. Nearly a quarter of those who said they favored Clinton over Obama for the nomination currently prefer McCain for the general election, virtually unchanged from polls taken before Clinton suspended her campaign.

One EXTREMELY encouraging sign....Americans are catching on that Mccain is really Mcbush!!

In general, 57 percent said McCain would continue to lead the country as Bush has, while 38 percent said he would chart a new course.

This is BEFORE Obama runs ads defining him. So that's a great start.

(More below the fold)

Meanwhile...Mccain is facing a pretty serious enthusiasm gap.

A majority of voters, 55 percent, said they are enthusiastic about Obama's candidacy, while 42 percent said the same for McCain. Three times as many said they are "very enthusiastic" about Obama as said so about McCain.Ninety-one percent of Obama's supporters are enthusiastic about his candidacy, including 54 percent who are very enthusiastic. Fewer of McCain's backers are as ardent: 73 percent are enthusiastic about his run, but just 17 percent are very much so. There appears to be some leftover animosity toward him on the right. Overall, 13 percent of conservatives are very enthusiastic about McCain, compared with nearly half of liberals who feel as strongly about Obama.

Those are STRIKING numbers. I have rolled my eyes many times when people have suggested that some Republicans might just stay home...but Mccain really hasn't inspired much confidence in his own party.

The poll found that Obama has actually lost ground on the Experience question...but that Change beats experience and he swamps Mccain in that category.

Also, Obama is much more liked.

On four other attributes tested in the poll, Obama has significant advantages. He leads by 34 points as the candidate who would do more to bring needed change to Washington, by 18 points on empathy, by 15 points on standing up to lobbyists and special interests, and by 13 points on better representing people's "personal values."

That's right...Obama represents personal values. And here I thought people just couldn't identify with him!!

A couple more interesting snippets.

Nevertheless, 52 percent call Obama's views "about right," more than said so about McCain's (40 percent). Thirty-six percent consider Obama "too liberal," and a similar percentage say McCain is "too conservative." The difference is that 19 percent view McCain as too liberal, while 5 percent dub Obama too conservative.

Here is the demographic breakdown:

There is no gender gap in this poll, with Obama holding a seven-point edge among men and a six-point advantage among women. Whites break for McCain by 12 points, while African Americans support Obama by better than a 9 to 1 margin.

Obama runs about evenly with McCain among single white women, but trails by 20 points among married white women. Obama has the support of nearly seven in 10 white women who describe themselves as feminists. Among all seniors, McCain leads by 12 points, and he is up 22 point among whites ages 65 or older. Obama beats McCain by better than 2 to 1 among those younger than 30.

The full article also has some discussion of how Obama and Mccain run among independents. (About even. Mccain beats Obama on terrorism and Obama  beats him on domestic issues. The two split Iraq).

Anyway, the entire poll is an interesting read. Check it out here!