Poll: Voters don't expect much on economy

WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- U.S. voters believe the three major presidential candidates would do a better job than President George W. Bush on the economy, a released Thursday indicated.

However, fewer than half think any of the three would have a positive effect on the economy, the Harris Poll indicated. Forty-one percent said they think the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would do a good job, while 43 percent said the same about Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and 45 percent said they thought Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., would handle the economy well.

Only 23 percent said Bush is doing a good job on the economy, while 74 percent gave him a bad rating.

There was a strong partisan tilt, with 52 percent of Republicans giving Bush high marks compared to 4 percent of Democrats and 21 percent of independents. McCain got good marks from 65 percent of Republicans, while Democrats have high expectations of their two candidates.

Clinton does better with the Democratic base on the issue than Obama, while he does better with Republicans and independents.

Harris interviewed 2,529 adults on line between April 7 and April 15.