Obama leads McCain on economy, poll says

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. voters say they think Democrat Barack Obama would better handle the economy as president than Republican John McCain, a Gallup Poll indicates.

Obama's 53 percent-to-38 percent lead over McCain in the latest Gallup Poll is a bump from the 3 percentage point lead he held just before the Republican National Convention in September, survey results released Tuesday indicate.

Most Republicans and Democrats said they consider their own party's candidate to be more capable of handling the economy than his opponent. Independents tipped the scales for Obama, with the majority favoring the Illinois senator while 32 percent named McCain, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

The weekend issues poll found Obama was preferred over McCain on the matter of taxes and energy, as well as healthcare.

McCain was favored on the issues of terrorism and gun policy. He also has a slight lead on the war in Iraq, but the advantage is not statistically significant, Gallup said.

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted Friday through Sunday with 1,269 adults. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.