Poll: U.S. presidential race tied

ATLANTA, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Results of a CNN poll indicate the U.S. presidential race is a virtual tie.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Sunday night had the Democratic Barack Obama-Joe Biden campaign leading the John McCain-Sarah Palin campaign 49 percent to 48 percent.

The survey conducted Friday through Sunday indicated virtually the same results as a CNN poll taken a week earlier with Sens. McCain, R-Ariz., and Obama, D-Ill., tied at 47 percent each.

The new poll was conducted after the end of the Democratic National Convention and McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Palin as his running mate.

Of those polled, 52 percent called the selection of Palin excellent or pretty good while 46 percent rated it as fair or poor.

As to whether Palin is qualified to be president, if that were to become necessary, 50 percent said she is not, while 45 percent said she is qualified.

In recent history, only Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992 earned less confidence in a public opinion poll, CNN reported.

CNN interviewed 927 registered voters by telephone and the poll had an error rate of 3 points.