Reuters Poll: Bush Opens Four-Point Lead on Kerry

Fri Oct 15, 7:12 AM ET Politics - Reuters


By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) opened a four-point
lead on Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) the day after the final
debate between the White House rivals, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll
released on Friday.


Bush led Kerry 48-44 percent in the latest three-day tracking poll, which
included one night of polling done after Wednesday's debate in Tempe, Arizona.
Bush led Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, by only one point, 46-45 percent,
the previous day.


An improvement in Bush's showing among undecideds and a strong response from
his base Republican supporters helped fuel the president's rise.


"The good news for the president is that he has improved his performance among
the small group of undecideds," said pollster John Zogby, who found 6 percent
of likely voters are undecided. "Nearly a quarter now say that he deserves to
be re-elected, up from 18 percent in our last poll."


Zogby said the difference between Kerry's 79 percent support among Democrats
and Bush's 89 percent support from Republicans also should be "worrisome" for
Kerry in such a tight race.


"Kerry needs to close the deal with his fellow Democrats," Zogby said.


Both candidates headed to the swing state of Nevada in upbeat mood on Thursday
after their final debate and renewed their battle during separate appearances
in Las Vegas over who was best suited to lead the middle class to prosperity.


The focus of the race now turns to less than a dozen crucial battleground
states, with Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin and Iowa -- where Bush and Kerry are
running neck and neck -- all certain to see plenty of the candidates down the
stretch.


The new tracking poll found Bush pulling into a tie with Kerry among Catholics
and women voters, and moving slightly ahead with young voters. Kerry still
holds a solid lead among seniors.


The poll of 1,220 likely voters was taken Tuesday through Thursday and has a
margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The rolling poll will
continue through Nov. 1 -- the day before the election.


A tracking poll combines the results of three consecutive nights of polling,
then drops the first night's results each time a new night is added. It allows
pollsters to record shifts in voter sentiment as they happen.


The poll showed independent candidate Ralph Nader (news - web sites), blamed by
some Democrats for drawing enough votes from Al Gore (news - web sites) to cost
him the election in 2000, with the support of 1.1 percent of likely voters.

More and more people are seeing that Kerry is a lying scumbag.

John H

My dad and I are on opposite ends of the political spectrum. He and his retired
buddies are all Rush Limbaugh fans, and they get together over coffee at
McDonalds in his little town to cuss and discuss about how the "liberals" are
ruining this once proud country etc, etc etc. For obvious reasons, we never
talk politics- my wife, my mom, my sisters, and anybody else within ear shot
always intervene and send us off to "neutral corners." We share a strong family
bond, but we disagree on politics.

I was sure surprised when he introduced the election in conversation today.
He said, "I'll tell you right now who's going to lose the election in a couple
of weeks."

I thought, "Oh, oh. Here it comes. Dad thinks the Bush campaign and the RNC
have been way too light on Kerry so far, and he's stated in the past he wished
they would get serious about trashing him as badly as he deserves for a
change......"

But, I bit my tongue and replied, "Sure, Dad. Who's going to "lose" the
election?"

"Both of us. All of us. The American public. I think I finally realized that it
doesn't matter which of these guys wins in a couple of weeks, we're going to be
in big trouble."

He used to be such a *huge* Bush fan.
I guess an older dog can learn a few new tricks. :-)

Gould,
Your father is correct, both candidates suck. Bush sucks, but you forgot
that Kerry sucks just as bad.


"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
More and more people are seeing that Kerry is a lying scumbag.

John H

My dad and I are on opposite ends of the political spectrum. He and his
retired
buddies are all Rush Limbaugh fans, and they get together over coffee at
McDonalds in his little town to cuss and discuss about how the "liberals"
are
ruining this once proud country etc, etc etc. For obvious reasons, we
never
talk politics- my wife, my mom, my sisters, and anybody else within ear
shot
always intervene and send us off to "neutral corners." We share a strong
family
bond, but we disagree on politics.

I was sure surprised when he introduced the election in conversation
today.
He said, "I'll tell you right now who's going to lose the election in a
couple
of weeks."

I thought, "Oh, oh. Here it comes. Dad thinks the Bush campaign and the
RNC
have been way too light on Kerry so far, and he's stated in the past he
wished
they would get serious about trashing him as badly as he deserves for a
change......"

But, I bit my tongue and replied, "Sure, Dad. Who's going to "lose" the
election?"

"Both of us. All of us. The American public. I think I finally realized
that it
doesn't matter which of these guys wins in a couple of weeks, we're going
to be
in big trouble."

He used to be such a *huge* Bush fan.
I guess an older dog can learn a few new tricks. :-)

Gould,
Your father is correct, both candidates suck. Bush sucks, but you forgot
that Kerry sucks just as bad.



Reportedly seen on a bumper sticker:

Kerry, '04 He sucks less. :-)

I agree with your dad, but...

I guess I'd rather have the trouble I know than risk the trouble I
don't.

When you're sick with a terminal cancer, that "unknown" drug just may do
wonders.
Unlikely that it would make things worse. :-)