New L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll numbers on Barack Obama-John McCain matchup posts today

A Washington Post-ABC News nationwide poll released at the stroke of midnight today caused a stir, with results giving Barack Obama a 9-percentage-point lead in his faceoff for the White House with John McCain.

Did a new L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll detect a similar Obama surge or, in line with most other surveys, show a closer race?

We can't provide the answer quite yet; for that, check back at LATimes.com about 5 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. PDT).

But we can give a heads up that when voters were asked to name what has become most important to them in choosing a president, the results underscore how decisively domestic issues have moved to the forefront.

The poll also asked a series of comparable questions about vice presidential nominees Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, such as whether their presence on their party's ticket made voters more or less inclined to back it and to what degree each was deemed qualified to fill the top job.

The results offer a mixed picture of the Palin phenomenon.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[McBush]

I am against delaying any longer the relief that all true "americans" want for the executives running our sacred wall street institutions. Its time, my friends, to get big government off the backs of our bankers and allow them to make the wise investment choices that help our economy. These are my friends and advisors, and as a POW, I can vouch for their sincereity and honesty in fleecing the US Treasury!

[R U Kidding]

Polls? Are you kidding me?

Anyone who hasn't made up their mind about this election hasn't been paying attention to this campaign or politics for the last 70 years. There are no surprises here.

Obama is a solid member of the neosocialist left determined to change what is left of American capitalism - first into a full blown social democratic state and then into a purely socialist state. Like all politicians, he is willing to say or do anything to reach his ideological end. Duh.

McCain is a moderate Democrat determined to make the middle work. The fact that he is also a defense hawk doesn't make him a Republican, nor does the fact that he chose Sarah who is. Who he is or how he will govern has never been in question.

In one sense, both Obama and McCain are right. Obama will do his best to bring incremental, but very real change - to statist socialism. McCain is right that he has always been a maverick and will take on his own party to make the middle of the road work.

All of the talk in the world won't change this fundamental difference. If you want to move this country farther down the road to socialism, Obama and the Democrats are your clear choice. If you really do want the bipartisanship middle of the road approach many profess to want, McCain is your choice. If, like me, you want something else, too bad, so sad. If you’re too stupid to know what you want, call yourself an independent and make up your mind over the trivialities of the moment.

It really is just that simple.

[Liah]

The government wants to bail out all those guys (excecutives, vip, ceo) in charge of the banks that screwed up our mortgages! The same guys who earn millions per year,(plus bonuses) they should be the people who paid for their miss handling of the WS and banking!

Why we, the tax payers have to bail them out?

Wake up America!

[steve rodriguez]

Stop telling americans we can't think for ourselves. People are not racist if they think, Obama has no experience, no record of achievements, spent 20 years with anti-american racist Rev.Wright, has a long association with radical william Ayers, he's arrogant, tells many lies, has ties to Rezko and has a very angry at america wife, Michelle Obama.

[steve rodriguez]

Senator Obama is not a racist! He has sat under Rev. Wrights preaching for 20 years extolling the virtues of America!

[International]

Obama, socialist? You guys need to get out more. He believes in the market more than any socialist would ever do. Ridiculous. (McCain doesn't know what he believes, except he wants to be the big cheese. It's the way he was brought up.)

[We deserve better then either candidate.]

McCain? moderate? I wouldn't consider Bush maderate and Mc Cain voted with him over 90% of the time. You have to be kidding mr. R U Kidding. McCain voted down planned parenting AND sex ed... then stated his main goal is to over turn Roe V Wade. Pro life or not, that's not moderate and not good judgment. Want to make a nation full of under educated pregnant teens stuck in the lower class? vote McCain.

moderate no.

[We deserve better then either candidate.]

McCain? moderate? I wouldn't consider Bush maderate and Mc Cain voted with him over 90% of the time. You have to be kidding mr. R U Kidding. McCain voted down planned parenting AND sex ed... then stated his main goal is to over turn Roe V Wade. Pro life or not, that's not moderate and not good judgment. Want to make a nation full of under educated pregnant teens stuck in the lower class? vote McCain.

moderate no.

[Eucharia Mbachu]

Hey People,
The saying is true, once beaten, twice shy! If John McCain and his Republican cohorts get what they want again in this Presidential Race, then we Americans should have ourselves to blame. Let the mistake of handling victory to President Bush in 2004 not happen again. Don't forget the bold headline (then) by the London Mirror, it asked "How can 4 million Americans be so dumb"? (By voting President Bush for the second time) Therefore, let the Presidential Debate go on as scheduled to allow American people to hear from these candidates what exactly they stand for. Yes, no doubt the questions during debates could be very complicated and confusing most of the time, it scares the begimies out of anyone, but It’s important and it is democratic. This is not the time to pull a smart one on the media and the voters. This message might be taped or recorded for educational voting purposes by voters come Novenmber 4.

Senator McCain take note.

[Michelle]

You don't have to be a racist to be against Obama. That's obsurd. However, You must be crazy to consider Sarah Palin an appropriate canidate for vice president and possible leader of this country. McCain made a very big mistake!

[GEEZ]

By the way a federal bailout of financial institutions is a SOCIALIST activity, as much as all government funded programs including but not limited to (tax payer money given to pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs to save your lives, federal funding of infrastructure, federally funded schools, and on an on). Anything that requires Federal funding regardless of the amount of Federal oversight is inherently socialist. You cannot continue to assume that welfare is the only SOCIALIST program. The bail out of wall street is WELFARE for the rich. Oh, so are Bush's tax cuts on the top 1% of the nation. Also chances are if your annual income is not in the millions you are not that 1%, if you make less than 50,000 a year you are not upper middle class, and if you make less than 30,000 a year you are not middle class. People really need to become more aware of who, what, and where they are in life.