By: Guest ContributorAug. 6th, 2008more from Guest Contributor

A new CBS News national poll released this evening shows the 2008 presidential race unchanged from last month. Barack Obama leads John McCain 45%-39% with 13% undecided.

It seems that as this race is becoming more polarizing, more voters say that they have made up their minds about who they will support. Seventy percent of those surveyed said that they have made up their minds about who they will support, but the enthusiasm gap remains between the two candidates. 54% of Obama supporters said that they were enthusiastic about Obama, compared to 14% of John McCain’s supporters who felt the same way about him.

Both candidates are appealing to their bases. Obama leads among Democrats, liberals, voters under age 45, African Americans, and women. McCain leads with Republicans, conservatives, voters over age 45, and white evangelicals. This is also known as the Republican base. Obama leads McCain with all men 46%-42%, but trails McCain with white men, 45%-41%. Independents are split between the two candidates 40%-40% with 16% undecided.

Clinton supporters have moved to Obama by a margin of 52%-19%. However, 24% still remain undecided. 53% of registered voters said that they are paying a lot of attention to this election, which is up five points from this time in 2004, and by a more than a 2 to 1 margin voters listed the economy and jobs as their most important issue (36%), over the war in Iraq (17%), and gas and oil prices (9%).

By a 70%-24% margin voters don’t think the candidates are paying enough attention to their issues. The respondents in this poll also favored offshore drilling (64%-28%), and thought that the next president should pay more attention to domestic issues over foreign policy (77%-8%). Voters also thought that the president can do something about gas prices (67%) and the economy (65%). Opinions of the candidates remained virtually unchanged from last month, which means that neither Obama’s foreign trip nor McCain’s attacks ads have changed the race.

If the results of this poll were to be summed in a phrase, it would be same as it ever was. This race has hit a lull. It isn’t moving in any direction. We probably won’t see much change until after each of the conventions, and then again, not until after the first presidential debate. If each candidate only appeals to their base, Independents will once again decide this election, and it will be a close race until the end.

Read the full poll results in PDF