– The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – As President Obama and Mitt Romney look to the November election, a new poll from the Pew Research Center finds a sizable share of the public is unsure which side the presidential candidates’ political parties take on some of the country’s most divisive issues, including the size of the federal government, gay rights and abortion.

That finding could give Obama, the Democrat, and Romney, the Republican, considerable leeway in shaping public perceptions of where the two major parties stand on the issues. Although 71 percent knew the Republican Party was generally the more conservative one, fewer were able to connect each party with its position on specific issues.

Less than 7 in 10 in the poll knew which party favored expanding gay rights, restricting abortion, establishing a “path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants or allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

About half identified Republicans as the party that favors a smaller federal government, a major talking point among GOP leaders and on the presidential campaign trail. More, or 67 percent, identified Democrats as the party seeking to raise taxes on higher income people to reduce the federal budget deficit, an issue Obama has frequently addressed in recent public appearances.

Political independents, who may not follow politics as closely as self-identified partisans, were more apt to be familiar with Obama’s push to raise taxes on higher-income Americans (65 percent) than with the GOP’s efforts to trim the size of government (51 percent).

The poll was conducted March 29 through April 1, and included landline and cellphone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide. Results had a margin of error of 4.0 percentage points.

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