MErcury News reports:

...The poll also asked Californians about the presidential race - and, once again, the state appears poised to back the Democratic nominee. By double-digit margins, likely voters said the Democratic Party would do a better job handling issues ranging from health care to the economy to the Iraq war.

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama holds a 49 percent to 40 percent lead in California over Republican nominee John McCain in a hypothetical matchup. Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton holds a smaller lead over McCain, 46 percent to 43 percent.

The survey, available at www.ppic.org, was conducted from March 11 to March 18. It polled 2,002 adult residents, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Among the 1,077 likely voters interviewed, the error margin was plus or minus 3 percentage points
...

A