Despite edge on economy, Obama doesn't pass McCain in new poll

Voters have become much more concerned about the economy as Wall Street has imploded this month, and Barack Obama continues to hold a healthy edge over John McCain in their confidence over who can deal with the economy.

But the presidential race remains a dead heat nationally, according to a new poll released this morning.

The latest George Washington University "Battleground Poll" says McCain is leading Obama 47 percent to 45 percent among likely voters, a slight dip from his 48 percent to 44 percent lead two weeks ago.

The poll also found that voters picking the economy as the single most important issue for Congress to work on has risen from 26 percent to 38 percent in the past two weeks -- a period of unrelenting bad news in the financial sector.

By a 49 percent to 38 percent margin, voters continue to say that Obama will be better at creating jobs and improving the economy.

The survey was conducted Sunday through Thursday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.