Tennessee poll shows Bush, Kerry in virtual tie

SFGate.com ^ | 3/10/04 | Matt Gouras

[BlackRazor]

President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry are in a virtual dead heat in Tennessee as support for the war in Iraq wanes and worries about the economy increase, according to a poll.

Bush had the support of 48 percent and Kerry, the four-term Massachusetts senator and presumptive nominee, 44 percent, which was within the survey's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. In 2000, Bush won Tennessee, defeating Democrat Al Gore in his home state.

[rhombus]

Sorry, only polls with Kerry leading need apply.

[BlackRazor]

Poll ping!

Three reasons to question these results. One, I have no idea how good a polling outfit MTSU is. Two, the polling dates are already as much as three weeks old. And three, "voting-age residents"? What the hell kind of sample is that?

[RolandBurnam]

No way. If the poll has them dead even, bush must be ahead by 10-15 points. They must have only polled the innercity or something. No way a bleeding heart massachusetts liberal is leading a down home southern guy in his backyard in time of war. No way.

[Patrick1]

This poll is worthless, even more than CNN/USA Today. They gave extra weight to African-Americans and Hispanics because their sampling was so small. For example an African-American who said they would vote for Kerry counted as two votes for Kerry, Hispanic three...

Kerry has as much chance of carrying Tennessee as Bill Clinton does of telling the truth.

Bush takes Tennessee by double digits.

[Sam's Army]

Amen.

Ain't no way a true Orange Blooded Volunteer is voting for someone who is "French Looking".

Bush takes Tennessee and more disenfranchised Gore voters are stranded at the polls.

[TheBigB]

No doubt about that. I'm here in TN, and trust me, Jean Cheri won't even come close.

[Redbob]

"Tennessee poll shows Bush, Kerry in virtual tie"

Fortunately for those of us in the real world, this will not be a "virtual" election!

[Redbob]

Their error, and it's a common one, was in not polling only people known to vote in presidential elections.

[buffyt]

Kerry scares me to death!

[Williams]

First, when it's a four point Kerry "lead" they don't call it a tie. Second, while I agree national security is a great issue, republicans have to smash the "conventional wisdom" that the economy is "in trouble" when in fact it's been booming for months.

[Texas_Dawg]

This is a great sign... if GWB/Kerry is a tie in Tennessee, and a tie nationwide, it makes sense that GWB will beat Kerry nationwide because he will absolutely crush Kerry in Tennessee, without any doubt.

[Lowell]

Kerry scares you to death! Naaa, what is really scary is he is the best they have and he is the front-runner, but is that the scariest / no way! The really scary thing is there are people out there that would vote for him. The media has (almost) 50% of Americans thinking whatever they want them to think. Now that is terrifying! Kerry is the latest pimp they could push to the front to accomplish the true goal of a one world government.
Remember Chuckles the clown (I mean Loserman, I mean Lieberman). He stood on the Senate floor and verbally pounded Clinton but when the time of truth arrived he fell back in line. Everyone called him the man with principle. Lieberman was/is considered the most principled Democrat in the Senate (even today).
Remember when AlGore asked him to be a VP? He reversed course on every issue he felt ‘committed’ to follow through on. THIS IS THE BEST GUY, MOST PRICIPALED DEMOCRATIC MAN IN THE SENATE. THE SCAREST IS HE GOT 49% OF THE VOTE. Kerry is just a water boy, but for who?

[finnman69]

There is no question that a similar poll with Kerry leading would have a title 'Kerry leads Bush in new TN poll".

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibd/20040309/bs_ibd_ibd/200439feature
Kerry Leads 44%-41% As Bush Gives Ground Even In GOP Bastions
Tue Mar 9,10:07 AM ET

By Sean Higgins
President Bush (news - web sites)'s popularity sank to an all-time low in March, just as Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., sealed the Democratic nomination.

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Kerry now beats Bush 44% to 41% among registered voters. Another 6% say they prefer consumer advocate Ralph Nader (news - web sites).

[alloysteel]

'Tis strange that people are only JUST NOW getting concerned about the direction the economy is going, especially since there were extensive indications that every measure has stabilized or is on an upwardward course.

Perhaps Americans as a society simply cannot handle prosperity. In fact, a sizable portion cannot STAND prosperity.

[luvbach1]

I hate Kerry's ugly, throwback political oratory style of ending each sentence on a rising note. I also loathe his tendency to relate the "people's views" to his own; i.e. "You're sick and tired of Bush's..."You're sending him back to Texas"..."You knew there was no plan for Iraq," "You're taking back the white House." et al.

[BunnySlippers]

Notice they said "virtual tie". Had the figures been reversed they would have said "Kerry leads".

[jdontom]

"Race accounts for much of the gender gap. Bush actually leads Kerry among white women 45-44%. But he gets only 7% of the black vote".

[GailA]

REAL POOR, REAL SLANTED..does that answer your question? Talk host Steve Gill was railing about this skewed poll this morning.