Obama leads in N.C.; voters distrust Clinton

Hillary Clinton is within striking distance in North Carolina, but a worrisome number of voters don't trust her.

That's the decidedly mixed message from a new poll conducted for The News & Observer in Raleigh, The Charlotte Observer, and TV stations in the two cities.

Barack Obama, who is favored in the May 6 primary, leads Clinton 32 percent to 26 percent, but an unusually high 39 percent remain undecided, according to the survey.

It found that trustworthiness is the most important quality sought by voters, with nearly 90 percent saying it would play an important role in deciding whom they support. On that measure, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain fared best, with 54 percent giving him high marks. Obama won high marks from 48 percent of voters, but only 25 percent of voters said that of Clinton.

The poll, which has a margin of error of plus of minus 4.9 percentage points, was conducted March 29 to April 1, during heavy coverage of Clinton acknowledging that she "misspoke" when she described landing in Bosnia under sniper fire during a 1996 humanitarian visit while first lady.