Poll: Too much money spent on campaign

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Seven in 10 U.S. adults say too much money has been spent on the U.S. presidential campaigns, the most expensive in history, a Gallup Poll indicates.

Eighty-four percent of supporters of Republican Sen. John McCain and 58 percent of supporters of Democrat Sen. Barack Obama -- or 70 percent of overall adults -- told Gallup the presidential campaigns had exceeded their sense of what was appropriate, the pollster said.

And while 57 percent said they backed limits on how much candidates were allowed to spend, nearly two-thirds said they weren't sure whether Obama or McCain received public financing, thereby limiting spending to $84 million. Only McCain is.

When informed of this, the vast majority said it did not affect their opinion of the candidates, Gallup said.

Fifteen percent said they took a more positive view of McCain's decision compared with 6 percent who took a less favorable view.

Eight percent said Obama's decision -- the first major-party nominee to bypass spending limits since a system was established after the 1972 Watergate scandal -- made them feel more favorably toward him and 18 percent said they felt less favorably.

The Tuesday telephone poll of 1,010 U.S. adults age 18 and older has a margin of error of 3 percentage points, Gallup said.