Little Change in Presidential Contest

PRINCETON, NJ -- Despite a spate of high-profile political events in the past week and a half -- President George W. Bush's nationally televised press conference, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 commission, and media appearances by Richard Clarke, the author of a new book criticizing the Bush administration for its handling of the war on terrorism -- a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey finds little change in the presidential contest. Among likely voters, Bush continues to enjoy a slight lead over Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, as he has since the end of March. Also, Bush's job approval rating as well as the favorable ratings of both Bush and Kerry are all essentially the same as they were three weeks ago.

The poll, conducted April 16-18, shows Bush leading Kerry among likely voters, 51% to 46%. In an April 5-8 poll, Bush's lead was three points, while he had a four-point lead in a March 26-28 poll. In the past three weeks, the figures have fluctuated within a small range, suggesting no real change in the preferences of American voters over that time.

The same conclusion can be drawn by looking at the results of a voting choice question that includes independent Ralph Nader. In the current poll, Bush leads Kerry by six points, 50% to 44%. In the early April poll, Bush led by four points, as he did in the poll at the end of March.

An analysis of vote preferences by how people voted in 2000 shows that Bush leads 62% to 33% in the "red" states (where he won in 2000 by more than five percentage points), but trails 57% to 41% in the "blue" states (won by former Vice President Al Gore by more than five percentage points). In the "purple" or competitive states (where the margins of victory were five percentage points or less), Bush and Kerry are tied at 49% of the vote each.

The poll, conducted April 16-18, shows Bush leading Kerry among likely voters, 51% to 46%.

Inspite of 24/7 attacks against GW the past 4 weeks by ABCNNBC BS, the Compost, the Slimes and other pathologic lunatic lib liars, GW increases his lead to 51%.

How will Woodward spin and lie about this?

Even the Compost admits that GW is pulling ahead of al Querry.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1120841/posts

Poll Shows New Gains For Bush
The Washington Post ^ | April 20, 2004 | Richard Morin and Dan Balz

Posted on 04/19/2004 9:42:09 PM PDT by neverdem

Lead Over Kerry Widens On Issues of Security

President Bush holds significant advantages over John F. Kerry in public perceptions of who is better equipped to deal with Iraq and the war on terrorism, and he has reduced the advantages his Democratic challenger held last month on many domestic issues, according to a Washington Post-ABC News Poll.

The poll also found that Iraq and the war on terrorism have surged in importance, and rank with the economy and jobs as top voting issues. Despite signs of concern among Americans about the violence in Iraq, the poll showed Bush's approval ratings holding steady and Kerry's slipping on a variety of issues and attributes.

By 49 percent to 44 percent, Bush is viewed as better able to deal with the country's biggest problems. Five weeks ago, those numbers were reversed. By comfortable margins, voters see Bush as stronger than Kerry on key national security issues.

On the economy, Bush has erased Kerry's 12-point edge and is tied with the senator from Massachusetts on who can better deal with the country's economic problems.

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