WASHINGTON - As the White House is embroiled in heated finger-pointing with House Republicans over the debt crisis, new poll results released Thursday indicated President Barack Obama's lead over a generic Republican candidate in the 2012 presidential race slipped significantly.

The Pew poll released Thursday showed 41 percent of registered voters would like to see Obama re-elected while 40 percent prefer a Republican to win the race. It was a big drop for Obama in a similar poll in May which saw him lead 11 points.

The poll indicated a steep drop in support among independent voters, 31 percent of whom said they would back Obama, compared to the 42 percent he received in May.

The Pew poll surveyed 1,501 adults and 1,205 registered voters from July 20 through July 24 with a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.