The survey suggests that Mr. Obama, the Illinois Democrat, may have been at something of a peak in February, propelled by a string of primary and caucus victories over Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and that perceptions of him are settling down.

Mr. Obama’s favorability rating among Democratic primary voters has dropped seven percentage points, to 62 percent, since the last Times/CBS News survey, in late February. While that figure is by any measure high, the decline came in a month in which he has come under withering attack from Mrs. Clinton and has had to respond to reports that his former pastor had made politically inflammatory statements from his church’s pulpit in Chicago.

Still, the events of the last month do not appear to have fundamentally altered the Democratic race or provided what Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has been looking for: evidence of a collapse in Mr. Obama’s standing or an overwhelming preference voiced for Mrs. Clinton by Democratic voters in polls, developments that could be used to persuade uncommitted superdelegates to sign on with her.

The poll showed that Mr. Obama now leads Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, by 47 percent to 42 percent; his lead was 50 percent to 38 percent in late February, when Mr. McCain still faced opposition from Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor. The latest poll shows Mrs. Clinton leading Mr. McCain by 48 percent to 43 percent in a similar match-up.

Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama are now effectively tied among Democratic voters, with 46 percent saying they want the party to nominate Mr. Obama, compared with 43 percent for Mrs. Clinton. In late February, 54 percent of Democrats said they wanted Mr. Obama to win the nomination, compared with 38 percent for Mrs. Clinton.

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