Obama opens race with edge over McCain: poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has opened the general election campaign with a six-point lead over Republican John McCain, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday.

Obama, an Illinois senator, leads McCain among registered voters, 47 to 41 percent. In the previous NBC/Journal poll in late April, Obama was leading the Arizona senator by three points, 46 percent to 43 percent.

Among respondents who said they voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, 61 percent favored Obama and 19 percent said they preferred McCain.

The poll found Obama leading McCain among African Americans, Hispanics, women and blue-collar workers.

Among white men, who made up 36 percent of the electorate in the 2004 presidential election, McCain has a 20-point lead over Obama, 55 percent to 35 percent, NBC reported.

Obama's lead over McCain expands when New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is added as Obama's running mate, the poll found.

An Obama-Clinton ticket would defeat a Republican one of McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by nine points, 51 percent to 42 percent, NBC said.

Both presidential candidates are in the process of selecting a running mate.

Both Obama and McCain have promised "change" if they are elected to succeed U.S. President George W. Bush in the November 4 presidential election.

In the poll, 54 percent of respondents said they were looking for a president who would bring greater changes to current policies, even if that person is less experienced and tested, NBC reported.

Forty-two percent said they preferred a more experienced and tested person become president, even it means fewer changes.

The NBC/Journal poll of 1,000 voters was conducted from Friday through Monday. Clinton ended her bid for the White House on Saturday. The survey has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

(Writing by JoAnne Allen)