Poll: McCain tapped for commander in chief

WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tops Sen. Barack Obama as the choice for commander-in-chief of the U.S. military, an ABC-Washington Post poll indicated.

Seventy-two percent of respondents said McCain, the likely Republican presidential candidate, would be good commander-in-chief of the military. By contrast, 48 percent said Obama, McCain's likely Democratic challenger, would be a good commander-in-chief.

The poll also indicated respondents were concerned about the war in Afghanistan. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said the U.S. battle against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan has been unsuccessful, up from 24 percent in the fall of 2002. The percentage who see the Afghan conflict as successful was 44 percent, down from 70 percent, pollsters said.

Simultaneously, 42 percent say the war on terrorism can be a success without victory in Afghanistan, compared to 60 percent who said the same about Iraq.

The ABC-Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone July 10-13 among a national sample of 1,119 adults. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.