Poll: More voters say they definitely will vote against Bush
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — More than four in 10 voters nationwide say they definitely plan to vote against President Bush next year — more than plan to vote for him, according to a poll released Tuesday.
In a theoretical matchup against Democrats, Bush led them all, with the closest competitor being Rep. Dick Gephardt.
By Kelly Lemons, AP
The survey by Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion found that 44% of the voters questioned said they planned to definitely vote against the Republican president while 38% said they would support his re-election.
An April survey from the Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based pollsters had found that 40% of voters nationwide planned to vote for Bush while 30% said they would vote against him.
The latest poll also found a drop in Bush's approval rating, which has been reflected in other recent nationwide polls. The Marist poll had the president's approval rating at 53%, down from 70% in its April poll.
In the new poll, voters were split on Bush's handling of postwar Iraq and the economy.
Among Democratic voters, here was no clear choice about who should be the party's candidate. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean led the way with 16% of Democratic voters backing him followed by Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut at 12% and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri at 10%. The other Democratic contenders were all in single digits. One in three Democratic voters said they were undecided on who should be the party's nominee.
In theoretical matchups against the Democrats, Bush led them all. Closest to the president — 48% to 43% — was Gephardt.
Marist's telephone poll of 788 registered voters was conducted Oct. 27-29 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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