Poll: Obama retains strong liberal support

PRINCETON, N.J., July 17 (UPI) -- Liberal support of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid hasn't eroded despite criticism about his more centrist campaign message, a Gallup poll indicates.

Eighty-two percent of people identifying themselves as liberals -- including 92 percent of liberals who said they were Democrats -- said they would support Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, instead of likely Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the November election, Gallup results indicated.

Gallup Poll Daily tracking data indicate liberal Democrats are no less likely to support Obama now than they were earlier in the campaign, despite criticism from the political left that Obama's message was taking a more centrist tone, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

Results are based on telephone interviews July 7-13 with 6,151 adult voters. Results of the total sample have a margin of error of 1 percentage point. Sampling results of 1,325 registered voters identifying themselves as liberal have a margin of error of 3 percentage points. For sampling results of 1,128 Democratic registered voters who said their views were liberal the margin of error also is 3 percentage points.