Poll: Dems confident, GOP not so much

PRINCETON, N.J., May 27 (UPI) -- Six in 10 Democrats like the party's chances in the U.S. general election while just under four in 10 Republicans are as confident, a Gallup poll indicates.

The Gallup Panel survey released Tuesday found 61 percent of Democratic respondents expressed confidence their party would win the election. Only 39 percent of Republicans polled indicated they were confident of a win in November.

A majority of Republicans -- 58 percent -- told surveyors they believe presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona gives the party the best chance to win the election, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

Sixty-two percent of Democrats indicated their likely candidate, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, offers the party its best chance of winning the presidential election. However, 34 percent disagree, with the majority of this group saying Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York would give the party a better chance of winning.

The Gallup Panel study results were based on telephone interviews with 1,013 adults conducted May 19-21. The overall sampling error margin is 4 percentage points. For party-specific results, the margin of error is 5 percentage points.