Kerry Losing Lead Over Bush In Illinois
cbs2chicago.com
Sep 15, 2004 6:05 pm US/Central
CHICAGO (CBS 2) The presidential election is just 48 days away now, and according to an exclusive new poll of Illinois voters, George W. Bush and John Kerry could be in a virtual dead heat.
The turn in this election tide could set up a political stunner. Illinois is a Democratic powerhouse in national elections, and John Kerry does maintain a small lead in our exclusive CBS 2 poll, but President Bush appears to be gaining support among voters.
Illinois no longer looks like a sure thing for Democrat John Kerry. His once 13 percentage point lead is now down to four points. That's exactly our survey's margin of accuracy, meaning the contest could be a dead-heat.
There are signs galore at a Republican office in New Trier Township. Workers say they're sensing a new enthusiasm for the Bush-Cheney ticket in an area with lots of swing voters -- swing voters who've chosen more and more Democrats in recent years. Some top Republicans still fear Bush could lose these voters, but others are expressing new confidence.
“I'm convinced he's gonna win Illinois. I really believe that. And I know that's a frightful prospect for the Democrats, but just look at the numbers,” said GOP Committeeman T. Tolbert Chisum.
The numbers in our exclusive CBS 2/Newsradio 780 poll put Kerry at 49 percent and Bush at 45 percent.
“Well, I don't think there are any surprises here in truth, because you have the cumulative impact of being off the air for five weeks, during which time the Kerry campaign was bombarded by the negative ads from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who were not telling the truth,” said Avis Lavelle with the Kerry-Edwards campaign.
Chisum said he believes the Swift Boat Veterans are driving this surge in Illinois. “I think it's driving it in Illinois and I think it's driving it around the country,” he said.
Democrats and Republicans here agree that Kerry's been badly wounded by his Swift Boat foes.
Our survey may mean the Kerry Campaign will no longer be quite so confident here. They haven't even sent any yard signs or bumper stickers to Illinois
In the U.S. Senate race, our survey found Republican Alan Keyes losing ground to Barack Obama. The Democrat had a 39 percentage point lead last month; now it's 41 percentage points. |
