Gallup poll puts Obama on top

WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- Voters prefer Sen. Barack Obama to Sen. Hillary Clinton as U.S. president, but Clinton fairs better against the presumptive Republican rival, a poll indicates.

A Gallup poll released Saturday has Obama, D-Ill., moving 5 points ahead of rival Clinton, D-N.Y., in public opinion.

Clinton, however, has a 48 percent lead compared to Republican Sen. John McCain's 44 percent while Obama has only a 1 point margin over the presumptive Republican nominee, Gallup reported.

The poll conducted Wednesday through Friday was Gallup's first since the Tuesday primaries that saw Clinton winning in Indiana and Obama taking North Carolina.

The survey of 1,270 Democratic-leaning voters had a 3-point margin of error, while the general election survey of 4,359 registered voters had a maximum margin of error of 2 percentage points.