Poll says people focus on candidates' personalities
By ALAN FRAM Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - For all the millions of dollars the U.S. presidential campaigns have spent, it still comes down to this: Ask people what they think of Hillary Rodham Clinton and they say female and feminist. For Barack Obama, it is inexperience. Mitt Romney is known as a Mormon, John Mc- Cain for his military service.

And oh, yes, he's old.

Heading toward a critical round of nominating contests Tuesday, McCain, a senator, is the Republican party's frontrunner ahead of Romney, a former governor. The race between Clinton and Obama for the Democratic nomination is much closer as Obama has steadily narrowed the gap. Both are senators.

Candidates have been merchandising themselves to voters for the better part of a year, using polls and focus groups to test everything from their stances on issues to their gestures. Yet an Associated Press- Yahoo News survey released Friday shows people are forging their own views of the candidates' qualities, blending the contenders' messages with information and impressions picked up elsewhere.

"Nice looking, slick," offered Republican Carol McDowell, 65, when asked to describe Romney.

"Manipulative," said Miriam Bornhurst, 28, a Democrat, of Clinton.

This is the third AP-Yahoo poll that since November has tracked about 2,000 people to see how the public's attitudes are shaping - and being shaped by - the presidential campaign. The survey was conducted by Knowledge Networks.

This may change during the general election in November, when people are likelier to focus on the two parties' issue and ideological differences. For now, contenders' characteristics and qualities are at the fore, and people's impressions remain a work in progress.

Since late last year, the survey shows, no one has seen their image improve more than Mc- Cain, who has won the past two Republican primary elections and become a front-runner. He is widely seen as experienced, strong, honest and decisive, even showing improvements from two groups he has struggled to win over: conservatives and white evangelical Christians.

By contrast, nearly half of those polled could not say anything when asked to describe McCain's chief rival, Romney, including more than a third of Republicans - surprisingly large numbers this late in a campaign on which he has spent $35 million (euro23.5 million) of his own money to get his name and message before the voters.

Even Democrats had little bad to say about McCain. Given an open-ended chance to describe him, members of both parties most often mentioned his military service and captivity in Vietnam, with the 71- year-old's age close behind.

"He's a very good man," said Robert Glynn Jr., 37, a Democrat. "But he's too old. If anything happened (to him), where do we go from there?"

Clinton is well-known and has seen little change in the APYahoo survey of her public perception. She gets good marks for being strong, decisive and experienced but is not seen as likable, honest or refreshing.

The most volunteered description of Clinton was her gender and the thought that she is a feminist. Close behind were feelings that she is dishonest and not likable - voiced mostly by Republicans - followed by strength and mention of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Clinton's remaining rival for the Democratic nomination, Obama, has shown image improvements in the AP-Yahoo poll, but they have been more modest than McCain's. The Illinois senator's biggest gains have been in the numbers of people viewing him as refreshing, compassionate and attractive.