Poll: Most Clinton supporters back Obama

When asked an open-ended question about the first words that come to mind about Obama, some former Clinton supporters used words like Muslim or terrorist. Those misconceptions have been fueled by Internet rumors that point out his name is Barack Hussein Obama but otherwise lie about his background.

"I refuse to vote for an Arab to be in my White House," said retired salesman Dean Johnson of Lanett, Ala. "That is the only factor. Otherwise, you couldn't break both my legs and make me vote for a Republican."

The Obama campaign has been addressing the rumors with fliers distributed at churches, a fact-checking Web site and a television ad about his American roots. Obama is a Christian who was born and raised in the United States. His father was from Kenya, but left when Obama was a toddler and he was brought up by his American mother and grandparents in Hawaii.

Sixty-year-old Ann Burkes of Broken Arrow, Okla., said she has a "gut feeling" that she doesn't trust Obama and is leaning toward McCain because he is more experienced. But she said all that would change if Obama picked Clinton as a running mate.

"If he chose her, I would be back in a heartbeat," Burkes said.

Clinton for vice president?
The poll found that choosing Clinton as No. 2 would appear to be a wash for Obama's candidacy. Overall, 28 percent said they would be more likely to vote for the Democratic ticket if Clinton were the nominee, 25 percent said they would be more likely to vote for the Republican ticket if Clinton were the nominee, and 47 percent said it wouldn't make much difference.

It would help more among former Clinton Democrats, with 68 percent saying they would be more likely to vote for the ticket if Clinton were on it.

Former Clinton supporter Jeannie Azzopardi of Ashland, Ore., said she would love for Obama to pick Clinton but she doesn't expect him to and will support him either way.

"I seriously doubt that everyone who supported Hillary Clinton would vote for McCain," she said. McCain is "in direct, direct opposition to everything she stands for."

An analysis of Clinton supporters who are backing McCain shows they are more liberal than the Arizona senator on the issues. The majority favor removing troops from Iraq as soon as possible, a single-payer health care system funded by taxpayers and repeal of Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy.

The AP-Yahoo News survey of 1,759 adults had an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. Included were interviews with 844 Democrats, for whom the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.4 points, and 637 Republicans, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 points.

The poll was conducted over the Internet after pollsters initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods, following up with online interviews. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it for free.

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