Thesurvey, taken Friday through Sunday, finds 42% against a bill, 35% insupport of it. Despite nearly a year of presidential speeches,congressional hearings and TV ad campaigns by interest groups, morethan one in five still doesn't have a strong opinion.

Whenpressed about how they were leaning, 49% overall said they would urgetheir member of Congress to vote against a bill; 44% would urge a votefor it.

Thefindings underscore the difficult battle ahead as President Obamapresses Congress to enact the legislation by the end of the year. TheHouse passed its version this month, and Senate debate on its healthcare bill is slated to start in earnest next week. A sharp partisandivide in public opinion helps explain the mostly party-line votes inCongress.

Those Democratssurveyed were overwhelmingly in favor of a bill: 76% to 17%. By an evenwider margin, 86% to 12%, Republicans were opposed. Independents wereagainst it by 53% to 37%.

Obama has seen hisapproval rating on handling health care policy slide a bit since thesummer. Now, 40% approve, 53% disapprove, down from a 44% approvalrating in July.

The poll of 1,017 adults, taken by landline and cellphone, has a margin of error of +/— 4 percentage points.

For more results from the poll, see Wednesday's USA TODAY.