WASHINGTON (AFP) — Barack Obama's barnstorming foreign trip did little to change the shape of his accelerating race for president with Republican John McCain, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
Obama led McCain 51 percent to 44 percent in the CNN/Opinion Research survey, the first national poll conducted entirely after his international campaign foray last week. He edged McCain 50 percent to 45 percent a month ago.
The survey also suggested that veteran Senator McCain still boasted an advantage when voters were asked which candidate they trusted most to deal with national security issues.
Some 56 percent of voters said McCain was best placed to handle terrorism, compared to 41 percent for first-term Senator Obama, who has improved his rating on the issue by just four percentage points since late April.
McCain was also favored 52 percent to 45 percent over the Democrat on the war in Iraq, another key point of contention during Obama's tour to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain.
And despite the fierce campaign crossfire over Afghanistan in recent weeks, and Obama's promise to pour more troops into the war, McCain still leads Obama 53 percent to 43 percent on who would best handle the situation.
Obama however maintained his edge on the prime issue in the election, the economy, leading McCain 54 percent to 43 percent. He led McCain 56 percent to 39 percent on who was best placed to handle healthcare.
In other favorable news in the survey, there was no immediate sign that McCain's attacks on Obama over his decision not to visit wounded US troops in Germany during his tour were hurting the Democrat.
Only 27 percent of those polled said Obama did not care about military veterans and US troops currently in Iraq, compared to 72 percent who said he did.
Obama's campaign team said he canceled plans to visit troops at the Landstuhl military facility after the Pentagon said the trip would be seen as a campaign event.
The poll, conducted between July 27 and 29, sampled the views of 1,041 adult Americans, with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
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