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

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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