McCain pulls even with rivals

REPUBLICANS are no longer underdogs in the race for the White House. To pull it off, John McCain has attracted disgruntled GOP voters, independents and even some moderate Democrats who shunned his party.

Partly thanks to an increasingly likeable image, the Republican presidential candidate has pulled even with the two Democrats still brawling for their party’s nomination, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll yesterday.

Just five months ago — before either party had winnowed its field — the survey showed people preferred sending an unnamed Democrat over a Republican to the White House by 13 percentage points.

Also helping the Arizona senator close the gap is the fact that people’s opinions of Hillary Clinton have soured slightly, while their views of Barack Obama have improved though less impressively than McCain.

The findings of the survey, conducted by Knowledge Networks, provide a preview of one of the upcoming battlegrounds. Though some unhappy Republicans will doubtless stay with McCain, both groups are teeming with centrist swing voters who will be targeted by both parties.