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By ROBIN TONER and ADAM NAGOURNEY

Despite an intense effort to distance himself from the way his party has done business in Washington, Senator John McCain is seen by voters as far less likely to bring change to Washington than Senator Barack Obama. He is widely viewed as a “typical Republican” who would continue or expand President Bush’s policies, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Polls taken after the Republican convention suggested that Mr. McCain had enjoyed a surge of support — particularly among white women after his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate — but the latest poll indicates “the Palin effect” was, at least so far, a limited burst of interest.

A new poll shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain with a slight lead over Democrat Barack Obama in West Virginia.

A second poll by the same group also shows that Margaret Workman has a sizeable lead in the race for West Virginia Supreme Court, but the other two candidates are in a neck-and-neck contest for the second Supreme Court seat that’s up for grabs.

McCain is ahead of Obama in West Virginia by five points, according to Charleston pollster Mark Blankenship.

The Bush administration, after considerable internal debate, has decided not to take direct punitive action against Russia for its conflict with Georgia, concluding that it has little leverage if it acts unilaterally and that it would be better off pressing for a chorus of international criticism to be led by Europe.

In recent interviews, senior administration officials said the White House had concluded that American punishments like economic sanctions or blocking Russia from world trade groups would only backfire, deepening Russia's intransigence and allowing the Kremlin to narrow the regional and global implications of its invasion of Georgia to an old-fashioned Washington-Moscow dispute.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow has been artificially creating and maintaining various centres of tension, in order to maintain its influence on the formers Soviet republics. Misleading the world society, under the appearance of peacemakers, the country has been constantly frightening and impeding the development of the young states during many years. A vivid example of this is Moldova and Georgia.