Neither presidential candidate has convinced a majority of voters that they know how to handle the country's growing economic crisis, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Just 24% say it’s Very Likely that Barack Obama will bring the kind of change that is needed to Wall Street. Another 29% say he is Somewhat Likely to accomplish that goal while 42% say he is not likely to do so.

For McCain, the numbers are similar. Just 25% say he is Very Likely to bring about the needed Wall Street reforms if elected. Another 25% say he is Somewhat Likely to do so while 44% say such accomplishments are not likely in a McCain administration.

Voter interest in how the two candidates respond is obvious since 26% say the bank failures in the news are Very Likely to have a significant impact on their own personal finances. Another 38% say it’s Somewhat Likely that their finances could be impacted as well.

Both campaigns are struggling to respond to the announced $85 billion government bailout of mega-insurer American International Group (AIG) earlier this week. The candidates have blamed each other’s political parties for the country’s economic problems, but even though they have opposed bailouts up until now, both have stopped short this week of condemning the AIG decision.

The AIG bailout came after the bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers investment firm on Monday, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, and two taxpayer-backed mega-bailouts on Wall Street earlier this year. The stock market has been in freefall so far this week.

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McCain and Obama remain very close in both the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and Electoral College projections.

The new survey was conducted on Wednesday night as consumer confidence in the economy fell dramatically. Concern cut across demographic lines, although supporters of Obama expressed a somewhat higher level of concern than those who plan to vote for McCain.

As the candidates seek to respond, they will have to keep in mind that a majority of voters now belong to the Investor Class by owning at least $5,000 worth of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The investors have interests in the issue that are quite different than the interests of large corporations and a different perspective than those without investments. Over the past few days, the number of investors who say their own personal finances are getting worse has increased from 41% to 48%.

Since Sunday, the number of investors who rate their own finances as good or excellent has fallen from 58% to 51%. There has been no change among non-Investors during the same time period.

Adding to the complexity of the issue, 49% of voters say they are more worried that the federal government will do too much, rather than not enough. Only 36% are more worried about the government doing too little.

Republicans, by a 64% to 24% margin say they worry about the government doing too much.

Democrats, by a 52% to 31% margin, say they worry the government won’t do enough. As for those not affiliated with either major party, 54% are more worried about too much government intervention while 28% take the opposite view.

Whatever the result, voters are paying attention—54% say they are following the news Very Closely while another 32% are following it Somewhat Closely.

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