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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (53581)	10/19/2004 5:15:27 AM
From: redfish	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81568

Poll Shows Tie; Concerns Cited on Both Rivals By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JANET ELDER Published: October 19, 2004 Two weeks before Election Day, voters hold a sharply critical view of President Bush's record in office, but they have strong reservations about Senator John Kerry, leaving the race in a tie, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. Mr. Bush's job approval rating is at 44 percent, a dangerously low number for an incumbent president, and one of the lowest of his tenure. A majority of voters said that they disapproved of the way Mr. Bush had managed the economy and the war in Iraq, and - echoing a refrain of Mr. Kerry's - that his tax cuts had favored the wealthy. Voters said that Mr. Kerry would do a better job of preserving Social Security, creating jobs and ending the war in Iraq. But a majority of Americans continue to see Mr. Kerry as an untrustworthy politician who will say what he thinks people want to hear. More than half of respondents said they considered him liberal, reflecting a dominant line of attack by Mr. Bush this fall. The poll found the two candidates each drawing 46 percent of all registered voters in a head-to-head race. Among likely voters in a two-way race, Mr. Bush has 47 percent, with 46 percent for Mr. Kerry. The Times/CBS poll was conducted over the four days after Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry concluded the last of their three debates. Some other polls taken during that time have shown Mr. Bush in a slightly stronger position among what they described as likely voters. The variations reflect the difficulty of determining who is going to vote, particularly in a campaign in which both sides have invested so many resources in registering new voters. Whatever problems Mr. Bush might be experiencing as he comes to the end of his first term, his position continues to be bolstered by concern about terrorism. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they had a lot or some confidence that Mr. Bush would make the right decisions to prevent another terrorist attack - compared with 62 percent who said they felt that way about Mr. Kerry. Mr. Bush, in a speech in New Jersey on Monday, assailed Mr. Kerry's credentials for fighting terrorism, and released a new television advertisement hitting the same theme. The poll findings were highly unusual in that many measures used by pollsters to determine the strength of an incumbent - from job approval to the percentage of Americans who believe the country is heading in the wrong direction (59 percent) - would normally signal trouble for an incumbent. In addition, voters seem to be listening to many of Mr. Kerry's arguments; 59 percent, for example, said they thought that Mr. Bush's policies favored corporate interests. Mr. Kerry is in better shape than he was when the debates began, when the Times/CBS News poll found him trailing Mr. Bush, 42 percent to 50 percent. But this poll and others suggest that he is having difficulty turning strong discontent with the state of the country into support for his candidacy. Mr. Bush's aides said that the poll findings demonstrated that Americans were not prepared to turn out Mr. Bush for a candidate about whom, they said, voters clearly had strong reservations. "There is a distrust and a reluctance for the public to accept him as being president," Matthew Dowd, a senior Bush adviser, said. "I don't think they like his policies. The public through the course of this campaign - it's not like they haven't gotten to know him." Mr. Kerry's aides said they were heartened by the poll findings, and said the discontent with Mr. Bush meant that undecided voters were on the verge of flocking to Mr. Kerry. "I don't think voters have reservations anymore," said Joe Lockhart, a senior Kerry adviser. "These voters are going to make up their own mind. The poll gives every indication that when they do make up their mind, they are going to Kerry." The Times/CBS News poll also suggested an area of vulnerability for Republicans in Congress. Only 38 percent of the poll's respondents said they approved of the way Congress was doing its job; 46 percent of respondents said they planned to vote for the Democratic Congressional candidate, compared with 38 percent who said they would vote Republican. And as of now, voters have a warmer view of the Democratic Party than of the Republican Party: 52 percent said they had a favorable view of the Democrats, compared with 47 for Republicans. Home Delivery of The Times from $2.90/week - Act Now! Continued 1 \| 2 \| Next>> nytimes.com