Poll: Gore Holds Edge in Michigan Because of His Support by America's Working Men and Working Women
by WILL LESTER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al Gore and George W. Bush are very close in national polls, with a new one giving Bush an edge. In the battleground state of Michigan, Gore is hanging onto a slim lead because of heavy backing by union voters.
Democrat Gore is also seen as running a more positive campaign than his Republican rival in the state with 18 electoral votes.
Two tracking polls, by CNN-USA Today-Gallup and Voter.com Battleground, show the race nationally within the margin of error. A Los Angeles Times poll published Wednesday put Bush up 48 percent to 42 percent among the nation's likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The Times poll credited Bush's strong leads among men and married women, with Gore ahead among women overall.
The close national contest has made the race in battleground states all the more important as the candidates fight for electoral votes.
Vice President Gore leads the Republican governor of Texas, 45 percent to 41 percent, in Michigan in a new CBS-New York Times poll of likely Michigan voters released Tuesday.
Gore held almost a 2-to-1 lead among union members, 56 percent to 29 percent, who make up almost a third of Michigan's likely voters, according to the poll. Bush held a 46-41 advantage among those who are not union members.
Teamsters President James P. Hoffa told several hundred union workers at a rally Tuesday on Michigan's Capitol steps in Lansing that they must make labor's voice heard in the Nov. 7 election. ''You are the backbone of the state of Michigan,'' he said.
Michigan's likely voters said they see Gore's campaign as more positive than Bush's -- with two-thirds saying the Gore campaign spends most of the time explaining its position on issues, while about one in five said he spent most of the time attacking his opponent. They were about evenly divided on whether the Bush campaign spends more time criticizing Gore or explaining its positions.
On Tuesday, Gore released the latest in a string of positive ads, highlighting his biography as a Vietnam veteran, father of four, married 30 years. It also lists some of his promises: a tax deduction for college tuition, continuing welfare reform and a crime victims' ''bill of rights.''
People were split on whether Bush's campaign ads make them feel more or less positively toward him, while they felt more positively toward Gore because of his ads by 31 percent to 19 percent.
The CBS-Times poll of 1,005 likely Michigan voters was taken Sept. 22-25 and has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The Los Angeles Times poll contacted 694 likely voters Sept. 23-25.
Highlighting the importance of Michigan in the presidential campaign, Gore and Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney both campaigned there Tuesday. |
