Poll: VP pick not so important

WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- The choice of vice presidential running mate appears to mean a lot to only a quarter of potential voters in the upcoming U.S. election, a poll indicates.

The New York Times/CBS News poll said another quarter of the 1,089 U.S. adults surveyed say the choice of running mate doesn't matter at all, the Times reported Wednesday.

The choice of running mate matters most to the one-third of all voters who say they're more enthusiastic this year about voting in the presidential election. The Times said Tea Party supporters and people who voted for John McCain in 2008 say they're more excited about voting this year.

Thirty percent of voters said the United States is heading in the right direction, while 64 percent said things are on the wrong track. A year ago, 70 percent of the public said the country was on the wrong track.

The nationwide telephone poll was conducted Wednesday through Monday. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.