WSJ/NBC Poll: McCain Loses Advantage on Taxes

Sara Murray reports on the presidential race. Sen. John McCain has lost his advantage on the golden economic issue for Republicans: taxes. The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that, when asked who would better handle the issue of taxes — the one area where the Republican nominee once had an edge — 48% said Sen. Barack Obama , and 34% said McCain. Earlier this month the candidates were tied on the issue and just a month ago McCain was leading. Overall, Obama has a 10 point lead among voters, 52% to McCain’s 42%. The poll, which was conducted Oct. 17-20, has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points. Voters also agreed that they think Obama will be better able to improve the economy, handle the mortgage and housing crisis, deal with the Wall Street financial crisis and deal with energy and the cost of gas. They’re still in a dark mood though: 78% think the country is off on the wrong track. As for the economy specifically, 38% said they expect it to get ... (link)