Poll: Undecided voters in no hurry to decide

WASHINGTON -- They shrug at President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. They're in no hurry to decide which one to support in the White House race. And they'll have a big say in determining who wins the White House.

One-quarter of U.S. voters are persuadable, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll, and Obama and Romney will spend the next four months trying to convince these fickle, hard-to-reach individuals that only he has what it takes to fix an ailing nation.

It's a delicate task. These voters also hate pandering.

"I don't believe in nothing they say," says Carol Barber of Iceland, Ky., among the 27 percent of the electorate that hasn't determined whom to back or that doesn't have a strong preference.

Like many uncommitted voters, the 66-year-old Barber isn't really paying attention to politics. She's focused on her husband, who just had a liver transplant, and that she had to refinance her home to pay much of his health bill. "I just can't concentrate on it now. If there were somebody running who knows what it's like to struggle, that would be different."

To be sure, many of the 1-in-4 voters who today say they are uncommitted will settle on a candidate by Election Day, Nov. 6.

The survey also showed these voters are more likely than others to say they distrust Romney and Obama on the major issues. They are far more likely to think the outcome of the election won't make a big difference on the economy, unemployment, the federal budget deficit or health care.

The poll was conducted June 14 to 18. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 8.3 points.