Rock the Vote poll indicates Obama rocks

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A national poll indicates U.S. voters ages 18-29 overwhelmingly favor Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain in the presidential race.

Results from Rock the Vote, a political advocacy group in Washington, indicate Obama leads McCain 56 percent to 29 percent, The Arizona Republic reported Wednesday. Thirteen percent said they were undecided and 2 percent supported third-party or independent candidates Ralph Nader and Bob Barr.

Rock the Vote officials said 1.6 million people have downloaded voter registration forms from the organization's Web site, an increase from the 1 million downloaded during the 2004 presidential election, the newspaper said. Eighty-six percent of those polled indicated they likely would vote in the 2008 election.

Other national polls indicate a much closer race between the two major party candidates. A Washington Post/ABC News poll Wednesday indicated Obama has a 9-percentage-point lead over McCain.

The Rock the Vote poll indicated that young voters are concerned with issues that worry other age groups, including the economy, Iraq war, gas prices and healthcare.

The survey conducted the telephone poll of 500 young people shortly after then Republican National Convention ended Sept. 4. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.