Ads souring voters on Obama, Romney: poll

WASHINGTON, July 25 (UPI) -- Negative presidential campaigning is pushing more U.S. voters into polarized camps, with undecided Americans shrinking in number, a bipartisan poll indicates.

Both President Barack Obama and his presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had the highest numbers yet of who viewed the candidates "very negatively," a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found. More than 40 percent said their feelings about the candidates had soured because of the aggressive attack ads each side has released.

Only 8 percent of the 1,000 potential voters polled said they were still undecided about whom they supported.

Despite those feelings, nearly three quarters – 70 percent -- said they personally liked Obama, while only 43 percent said they liked Romney.

Overall, Obama was favored over Romney by six points, 49 percent to 43 percent, the same result in four Journal/NBC polls in the past year.

The survey was conducted by Bill McInturff, a Republican, and Peter hart, a Democrat.

The poll was conducted July 18-22. The margin of error was 3.1 percent.