Poll: Wall Street crisis won't affect voters' choices

— -- The crisis on Wall Street is driving more voters toward Democratic nominee Barack Obama than to Republican John McCain, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. Far more voters say the financial turmoil will have no effect on their vote.

In the survey, taken Wednesday, 29% of registered voters said the crisis makes them more likely to vote for Obama, compared with 23% who said they were more likely to vote for McCain. Forty-three percent said the virtual collapse of major financial institutions such as Lehman Bros. and the resulting market plunge will have no effect when they go to the polls Nov. 4.

Obama and McCain have said this week that they would impose stricter controls on financial institutions but have offered few specifics. That's a departure for McCain, who has spent most of his 22-year Senate career advocating deregulation.

About six in 10 Americans favor greater regulation of Wall Street, according to the survey. Support for regulation is much higher among Obama voters — 72% favor it — compared with McCain backers, who split 48%-42%.

Americans don't give either candidate an edge when it comes to handling Wall Street's problems: The Democrat and Republican are essentially tied.

The poll of 1,056 adults has a margin of error of +/—3 percentage points.

Related Stories

5th body recovered in Baltimore bridge collapse

• May 2, 12:19 AM

4 big takeaways from Day 10 of Trump trial

• May 2, 5:50 PM

Man kills wife, 3 kids in mass shooting: Police

• Apr 23, 12:35 PM

In previous national surveys, Obama has had a bigger lead over McCain on which candidate could better handle the economy. The Illinois senator had a three-point lead in a USA TODAY Poll taken Sept. 5-7. After the Democratic convention last month, Obama led McCain by 19 points on the economy.

The news of the federal government's $85 billion loan to American Insurance Group (AIG), which gives the government control over the nation's largest corporate insurer, has been followed by nearly 70% of those surveyed. By 42% to 40%, they disapproved of the Federal Reserve loan.

This week, the financial crisis has caused a federal bailout of AIG, forced the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America and sent Lehman Bros. into bankruptcy. Mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the federal government last week.