The financial crisis and growing pessimism about the US economy is giving Democratic candidate Barack Obama's White House campaign a lift, polls showed Wednesday.
The Illinois senator is nine points ahead of his Republican rival John McCain, 52 to 43 percent, according to a poll of likely voters published Wednesday by The Washington Post and ABC News.
Only nine percent of those surveyed agreed that the US economy was in good or excellent shape, the first time since 1992 that number has been in the single digits, the Post said.
Just 14 percent said the country is moving in the right direction -- the lowest figure since 1973.
Asked who they trust more to handle the economy, 53 percent chose Obama and 39 percent, McCain.
In a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll also published Wednesday, 48 percent of respondents said Obama could do a better job handling the financial crisis, and 35 percent said McCain could.
The Washington Post/ABC poll surveyed 1,082 people from September 19 to 21 and had a margin of error of plus or minus three percent, or plus or minus four percent among likely voters.
The Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll was conducted over the same three days and included 1,428 people. Its margin of error was three percent.
