A look at the political center

A recent AP-Yahoo News poll shows that 15 percent of the electorate _ people who call themselves moderates and aren't solidly supporting a candidate _ make up the persuadable middle. More than half are independents and, judging by history, many probably don't vote party line. The center of the electorate is where the White House is all but certain to be won or lost. Both Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are aggressively going after these voters, the most prized group but also the most difficult to reach.

The AP-Yahoo News poll is part of an ongoing study that tracks the attitudes and opinions of a group of more than 2,000 Americans to see how their political views evolve over the course of the election campaign. The AP-Yahoo News survey of 1,759 adults was conducted from June 13-23 and had an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. The margin of sampling error for moderates who aren't firmly supporting a candidate is plus or minus 6.0 percentage points. Some responses below are taken from interviews conducted in earlier waves of the study.

The poll was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it for free.

A look at some of the findings of moderates who are still persuadable:

CURRENT VOTING INTENTION:

_61 percent undecided, 19 percent McCain, 17 percent Obama.

_58 percent call themselves independents when first asked; these independents are twice as likely to lean Democrat as Republican.

_38 percent say they are definitely independent, or say they have no party affiliation, and refuse to lean.

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS:

_60 percent have a high school education or less.

_24 percent are Hispanic.

_67 percent are married.

_38 percent have children living in the household.

_22 percent live in far-flung suburbs or rural areas.

_20 percent are white evangelicals.

_28 percent are Catholics.

_25 percent have no religious affiliation.

INTEREST/MOBILIZATION:

_69 percent are registered to vote.

_67 percent aren't too interested in the campaign.

_6 percent say they are excited by the election.

PRESIDENT BUSH:

_10 percent approve of Bush.

CONGRESS:

_11 percent approve of Congress.

OBAMA:

_36 percent have a favorable impression.

_21 percent don't know enough about Obama yet to rate.

MCCAIN:

_45 percent have a favorable impression of McCain.

_25 percent don't know enough about McCain yet to rate.

THE PARTIES:

_56 percent have a favorable impression of the Democratic Party.

_32 percent have a favorable impression of the Republican Party.

ISSUES VS. QUALITIES:

_41 percent say issues are most important to their vote.

_41 percent say personal qualities are more important.

ISSUE RANKINGS:

_Gas prices/economy.

_Health care.

_Social Security/taxes/education.

_Terrorism/Iraq.

ECONOMY:

_41 percent say it is very difficult for them and their family to get ahead financially these days.

_43 percent worry a lot about facing major unexpected medical expenses.

_26 percent worry a lot about losing a job.

_35 percent worry a lot about being able to keep up with mortgage and credit card payments.

_51 percent say gas prices will cause a serious financial hardship for their families over the next six months.

DEFENSE/IRAQ:

_53 percent say strengthening military defense should be a high priority.

_71 percent say removing U.S. troops from Iraq should be a high priority.

_68 percent say bring troops home from Iraq as soon as possible.

HEALTH CARE:

_74 percent favor adopting universal health insurance.

_56 percent favor a single-payer health plan financed by the government.

SOCIAL SECURITY:

_86 percent say protecting Social Security and Medicare should be a high priority.

EDUCATION:

_63 percent say it should be a high priority to increase public education funding.

ENVIRONMENT:

_56 percent say reducing global warming should be a high priority.

CRIME:

_54 percent say toughening criminal sentencing guidelines should be a high priority.

TERRORISM/WIRETAPS:

_51 percent say it is generally right for the government to monitor phone/e-mail communications of suspected terrorists without a warrant.

SOCIAL ISSUES/MORALITY:

_41 percent say promoting traditional families should be a high priority.

_10 percent say advancing gay rights should be a high priority.

_35 percent oppose giving legal rights to same-sex couples.

_17 percent oppose stem cell research with human embryos.

ABORTION:

_15 percent say overturning Roe v. Wade should be a priority.

_26 percent would like Roe v. Wade to be overturned.

_58 percent say abortion should mostly be legal.

GUNS:

_76 percent say people should be allowed to keep handguns in their homes.

_57 percent favor a nationwide ban on semiautomatic handguns.

IMMIGRATION:

_60 percent say reducing illegal immigration should be a high priority.

_54 percent oppose providing some path toward legal status for illegal immigrants.

TAXES:

_73 percent say cutting taxes should be a high priority.

_47 percent say the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should be repealed while others remain in place.

TRADE:

_28 percent say repealing NAFTA should be a high priority.

_12 percent say increasing trade between the U.S. and other countries has helped the economy.

_55 percent oppose negotiating more free trade agreements.

RACIAL ATTITUDES:

_36 percent have favorable views of blacks.

_16 percent have unfavorable views.

RELIGIOUS VIEWS:

_24 percent believe the Bible is the word of God and should be taken literally.

SOCIAL TRUST:

_24 percent say most people can be trusted.

POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE:

_65 percent knew that the Democrats currently have a majority in Congress.

Analysis by Associated Press Director of Surveys Trevor Tompson

Terra/AP