There is good news for Republican presidential candidate John McCain (R-AZ) in a new public opinion poll of Missouri voter preferences.

The Research 2000 telephone survey, conducted last week for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV in St. Louis, polled 800 likely voters. It has 49 percent backing McCain and 45 percent supporting Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama (D-IL). According to the poll, the remaining 6 percent are either undecided or are supporting one of the other presidential candidates on the Missouri ballot.

Those polled say McCain is the stronger candidate on national security and antiterrorism matters, while Obama is more trustworthy on economic matters.