Poll Gives Obama 8-Point Va. Lead

Part of Obama's late advantage can be traced to widespread voter unease about the economy, record low approval ratings for President Bush and a growing number of voters who have strongly negative perceptions of GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Bush's approval rating has fallen by half since his reelection in 2004, when he carried Virginia by 262,000 votes, or about 8 percentage points. Today, 27 percent of registered voters in Virginia approve of Bush's job performance, closely mirroring his low nationwide approval rating.

Bush's unpopularity remains a central liability for McCain in Virginia; 53 percent of voters said the senator would lead the nation in the same direction as Bush has, and these voters overwhelmingly support Obama.

"McCain has Bush's bad attitude" Fred Woyach, 63, a systems engineer who lives in Centreville, said in a follow-up interview. "McCain doesn't get it."

Although McCain has been trying to distance himself from Bush in recent weeks, the number of voters linking the two has not budged since September's Post poll.

Palin also is dragging down McCain in Virginia, the poll indicates. Half of Virginia voters now have "strongly" or "somewhat" negative views of the Alaska governor, a 12 percentage-point increase from September.

Concerns about Palin, who is scheduled to campaign today in Fredericksburg and Leesburg, might be compounded by widespread apprehension about McCain's taking office at 72. That would make him the oldest person to be elected to a first term as president, and 48 percent of Virginia voters said they are uncomfortable about that.

Mirroring nationwide trends, the economy continues to be the dominant issue in Virginia. Fifty-one percent of voters say it is their top concern, making it far and away the election's No. 1 issue. These voters favor Obama by a wide margin.

Obama holds a 23-point advantage as the one who better understands the financial problems people are facing. He holds a similarly large lead on the question of whom voters trust to address health care concerns.

McCain also appears to be failing in his efforts to convince voters that Obama would raise taxes. Republicans in Virginia, a historically low tax state, have been successfully using the tax issue for decades. But the poll finds Obama with a 15-point advantage when voters are asked whom they trust more to handle tax policy.

McCain remains better positioned statewide to play up his experience on military and foreign issues, although Obama has made some progress in those areas.

Voters are about evenly split between McCain and Obama on handling Iraq policy and on terrorism (McCain has lost a clear edge on the latter). They are also split -- 48 percent to 48 percent -- as to which of the two is "the stronger leader." That closely matches last month's poll.