Obama leads on compassion, McCain on experience

Barack Obama gets far higher marks from voters on compassion and policies, but John McCain is still ahead on experience and leadership, according to a new poll out this afternoon.

Asked which characteristic applies more to a candidate, 55 percent of registered voters said Obama "cares about people" like them, compared to 35 percent who picked McCain -- a gap that is double what it was a month ago, the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey found.

The poll found that 48 percent said Obama has a "clear plan for solving the country's problems," as opposed to 33 percent for McCain. The two were basically tied on this measure a month ago.

McCain continues to lead Obama on being a "strong and decisive leader" 50 percent to 45 percent among registered voters. He also still leads on having the "right experience" to be president.

Obama also leads by a wide margin on displaying good judgment in an economic crisis, and has closed the gap into a virtual tie on displaying good judgment in an international crisis.

The survey was done Friday through Sunday and for these findings has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.