Poll indicates rising Obama electability

PRINCETON, N.J., June 16 (UPI) -- A Gallup Poll released Monday indicates most U.S. independent voters said likely Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama will win the White House.

The finding among the key block of independent voters, who don't identify with either major party, is fueling perceptions Obama, D-Ill., will be electable in November, the Gallup organization of Princeton, N.J., said Monday. In the poll, conducted June 9-12, voters who defined themselves as independent predicted by a 9-percentage-point margin that Obama would win.

Not surprisingly, 76 percent of Democrats say Obama will win, while 67 percent of Republican voters predicted presumptive GOP presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will win the general election. Overall, 52 percent of all voters predicted an Obama win, while 41 percent said McCain will triumph, the poll results indicated.

The poll also suggested Obama has opened a small lead over McCain in actual voter preference.

"Perceptions are actually creating some wind behind (Obama's) back," the firm said in a news release.

Gallup said the results were based on telephone interviews with 822 adults and carried margin of sampling error of 4 percentage points.