Washington: Barack Obama s support from backers of Hillary Rodham Clinton is stuck smack where it was in June, a poll showed today, a stunning lack of progress that is weakening him with fellow Democrats in the close presidential race.

An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll shows that among adults who backed his rival during their bitter primary campaign, 58 per cent now support Obama. That is the same percentage who said so in June, when Clinton ended her bid and urged her backers to line up behind the Democratic senator from Illinois.

The poll shows that while Obama has gained ground among Clinton s supporters - 69 per cent view him favorably now, up 9 percentage points from June - this has yet to translate into more of their support.

In part, this is because their positive views of Republican presidential nominee John McCain have also improved during this period. The share of Clinton supporters saying they ll vote for McCain edged up from 21 per cent to 28 per cent, with the number of undecided staying constant, according to the survey, conducted by Knowledge Networks.

Clinton backers reluctance to support Obama helps explain why he is having a tougher time solidifying partisan supporters than McCain. Overall, 74 per cent of Democrats say they will vote for Obama, compared with 87 per cent of Republicans behind the Arizona senator. About nine in 10 Clinton supporters are Democrats.
Source : PTI