Many conservatives were not pleased with presidential candidate John McCain’s speech in Oregon Monday about global warming. If a poll taken by the conservative website NewsBusters (where I am the associate editor) is any gauge, this issue could be a serious problem for the Arizona Senator come November, representing another major departure from the views of his electoral base.

With 2,500 respondents so far, 44 percent said they were less likely to vote for McCain as a result of this speech, with another 20 percent saying they definitely won’t vote for him now.

By contrast, only 3 percent of respondents were either more likely to vote for McCain or definitely would vote for him because of this speech; 34 percent said the speech didn’t impact their position at all.

In a race that promises to be very close, one has to wonder just how many issues McCain can take counter to his base without it making it very difficult for him to win.

On the flipside, isn’t it amazing how many people see this issue as being important enough to impact how they will vote?