Clearly kerry's chances stink when even the Pew poll puts PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH....
Bush Leads Kerry by 8 Percentage Points in Pew Poll (Update1)
Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush leads Democratic challenger John Kerry by 8 percentage points in a Pew Research Center poll that also found declining voter confidence in the president's handling of the economy, Iraq and terrorism.
The survey of 948 registered voters taken Sept. 22-26 gave Bush a 48 percent to 40 percent lead over Kerry, a four-term U.S. senator from Massachusetts. In a Sept. 11-14 Pew poll, Bush and Kerry were tied at 46 percent each. Both polls had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
A poll taken for Investor's Business Daily, also released today, put the two candidates in a statistical tie. Kerry had the support of 46 percent of 649 adults identified as likely to vote Nov. 2 and Bush was chosen by 45 percent. The survey was taken Sept. 22-27 and had a 4 percentage point margin of error.
Both candidates were taking a break from campaigning today as they prepare for the first of three nationally televised debates. The Thursday event in Coral Gables, Florida, will focus on foreign policy and homeland security.
Bush heads into the debate with leads of 4 to 8 percentage points in seven national polls released over the last week. A Washington Post-ABC News survey put Bush's advantage over Kerry at 6 percent and CNN-USA Today poll showed him leading by 8 points. Those polls spanned the period Sept. 23-26 and were published yesterday. Both showed a narrower margin than polls conducted earlier in the month.
Oil and Iraq
``All the recent polls show a tighter race,'' said Raghavan Mayur, president of Oradell, New Jersey-based TechnoMetrica, which conducted the survey for Investor's Business Daily. ``The beheading of Americans in Iraq and also high oil prices are factors that could be impacting the results.''
Crude oil prices closed at a record today after exceeding $50 a barrel during trading. Last week two American hostages were beheaded in Iraq.
The Pew poll found an increasing number of respondents indicating qualms about Bush's policies. Thirty-nine percent said that between the two candidates, Bush would better handle the economy, down from 40 percent in a Sept. 11-13 poll. Forty-six percent said Bush could best handle Iraq, down from 52 percent; 54 percent said Bush could best deal with terrorism, down from 57 percent.
Kerry didn't gain ground on those issues, the poll found. On the economy, 46 percent said he would better handle the economy, down from 47 percent in the earlier poll. Thirty-eight percent said the Democrat would better handle Iraq, compared with 40 percent Sept. 11-13 and 30 percent said he would do a better job handling terrorism, 1 percentage point less than the mid- September survey.
By a margin of 54 percent to 28 percent, Bush, 58, was viewed as a stronger leader than Kerry, 60. He also had a 63 percent to 23 percent edge when asked his candidate was more willing to take an unpopular stand. Respondents preferred Kerry, 42 percent to 38 percent, when asked which candidate cared about people.
quote.bloomberg.com |
