Washington, Oct. 22: Republican presidential candidate John McCain continues to trail behind Democratic rival Barack Obama in states that were won by incumbent President George W Bush in 2004.

McCain''s move to distance himself from Bush appears to be reaching voters, despite a barrage of ads from the Obama campaign accusing the Arizona senator of being in lock step with the president.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll found that 52 percent of voters think McCain’s policies would be different from Bush''s, up eight percentage points in just two weeks.

McCain also gained ground on the question of who would best handle the economy, an issue that previously helped catapult Obama to a commanding lead.

About 36 percent of likely voters in an ABC/Washington Post poll released Tuesday said they think McCain better understands the economic problems - a low number, but eight percentage points higher than just 10 days ago.

McCain also made strides on questions of who is the stronger leader and would do more to bring change to Washington, though a majority of voters still picked. (ANI)