Likely voters are strongly favoring John McCain/Sarah Palin over Barack Obama/Joe Biden, according to a new Gallup Poll. The new numbers indicate that 54 percent of likely voters say they'll support McCain, while 44 percent say they'll support Obama.

The poll also looked at enthusiasm within the candidate core support. 

The number of Republicans "more excited than usual" about the November election jumped by about 50 percent after their convention, accourding to a new Gallup poll.

The poll, which also showed John McCain/Sarah Palin leading Barack Obama/Joe Biden by a 50 percent to 46 percent margin among all registered voter, is most interesting because of the enthusiasm numbers. the numbers show that more Democrats?Democrat leaners are enthusiastic about the race than GOP/GOP leaners (67 percent to 60 percent).

 But the pace at which the gap narrowed is a clear sign of the impact of Palin on this race, as well as a reflection that respondents reacted positively to McCain's speech.

Prior to either convention (August 21-23), while 57 percent of Dems (and leanders) were more excited than usual about the Obama campaign, only 39 percent of their GOP counterparts said the same. But those numbers had changed drastically by Sept 5-7, when the poll was repeated.

The 10 point increase about the Obama campaign indicates he continues to excite his base, and that enthusiastic support is growing. But the 21 percent GOP bounce (a 54 percent increase) indicates that at least for now, McCain has turned the corner in this race. 

The poll also noted that while 60 percent of respondents thought her convention speech was excellent (42 percent) or good (18 percent), about 47 percent thought the same of McCain's speech.