Gallup: Palin makes McCain change agent

PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has made John McCain more likely to be seen as a force for change, a Gallup Poll analyst said Friday.

While Democrats are far more likely to see Barack Obama as a change agent and Republicans McCain, 52 percent of independents now say that McCain would help bring change to Washington while 59 percent believe that of Obama, Gallup has found in its daily tracking polls.

"It appears that one successful outcome of the Republican National Convention and the selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate has been to allow McCain to become surprisingly competitive with Obama in Americans' perceptions of not only his ability to change the way government works in Washington, but also his capability to address U.S. economic problems," said Dennis Jacobs, Gallup's chief economist.

McCain and Obama each have the confidence of about two-thirds of independents on the economy, Gallup said.

Gallup's latest information is from telephone surveys of 1,022 voters between Sept. 5 and Sept. 7.