Campaign 2004: Bush Opens Double-Digit Lead

http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,692562,00.html ^

[Hi Heels]

Campaign 2004: Bush Opens Double-Digit Lead TIME Poll: Among likely voters, 52% would vote for President George Bush, while 41% would vote for John Kerry and 3% would vote for Ralph Nader

Friday, Sep. 03, 2004 New York: For the first time since the Presidential race became a two person contest last spring, there is a clear leader, the latest TIME poll shows. If the 2004 election for President were held today, 52% of likely voters surveyed would vote for President George W. Bush, 41% would vote for Democratic nominee John Kerry, and 3% would vote for Ralph Nader, according to a new TIME poll conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2. Poll results are available on TIME.com and will appear in the upcoming issue of TIME magazine, on newsstands Monday, Sept. 6.

Most important issues: When asked what they consider are the most important issues, 25% of registered voters cited the economy as the top issue, followed by 24% who cited the war on terrorism as the top issue. The situation in Iraq was rated the top issue by 17% of registered voters, moral values issues such as gay marriage and abortion were the top issue for 16% of respondents, and health care was the most important issue for 11% of respondents.

Bush vs. Kerry: The economy: 47% trust President Bush more to handle the economy, while 45% trust Kerry. Health care: 48% trust Senator Kerry to handle health care issues, while 42% trust Bush. Iraq: 53% trust Bush to handle the situation in Iraq, while 41% trust Kerry. Terrorism: 57% trust Bush to handle the war on terrorism, while 36% trust Kerry. Understanding the needs of people: 47% said they trust Kerry to understand the needs of people like themselves, while 44% trusted Bush to understand their needs. Providing strong leadership: 56% said they trust Bush to provide strong leadership in difficult times, while 37% said they trust Kerry to provide leadership in difficult times. Tax policy: 49% trust Bush to handle tax policy, while 40% trust Kerry. Commanding the Armed Forces: 54% said they trust Bush to be commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while 39% said they trust Kerry.

Bush on the Issues: Iraq: Half (50%) of those surveyed approve of the way President Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, while 46% disapprove. In last week’s TIME poll, 48% approved of the way Bush was handling the situation in Iraq and 48% disapproved. Terrorism: Almost two thirds (59%) said they approve of how President Bush is handling the war on terrorism, while 38% disapprove. Last week’s TIME poll found 55% approved of Bush’s handling of the war on terrorism, while 40% disapproved. The Economy: Survey respondents were split on the President’s handling of the economy. Almost half (48%) said the approved of Bush’s handling of the economy, while 48% said the disapproved.

Other results include: Was U.S. Right Going to War with Iraq? Over half of those surveyed (52%) think the U.S. was right in going to war with Iraq, while 41% think the U.S. was wrong to go to war.

Have the United States’ actions in Iraq made the world safer? Almost half (45%) think the United States’ actions in Iraq have made the world safer, while 45% think the world is more dangerous. In a similar TIME poll taken Aug. 3 – 5, over half (52%) said the world was more dangerous, and 38% said the world was safer.

# # #

Methodology: The TIME Poll was conducted August 31 – September 2 by telephone among a random sample of 1,316 adults, including 1,128 reported registered voters and 926 likely voters. The margin of error for registered voters is +/- 3% points, and +/- 4% points for likely voters. Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas (SRBI) Public Affairs conducted the poll, and more complete results are attached.

Contacts: Ty Trippet, 212-522-3640 Jennifer Zawadzinski, 212-522-9046

[kennedy]

I posted this article earlier this afternoon and the Admin Moderator pulled it because it had previously been posted. The problem is that the existing thread does not have the correct title of the article, so it does not come up when you do a word search.

The Moderators either need to leave this thread up or change the title of the earlier thread (or plan to keep pulling it when someone posts the article again every few hours).

[chainsaw]

I want to see Cheney take on the other John - Edwards.

Edwards better choose his words very carefully or Cheney will shove them right down his gullet. Lieberman thought he was being smart, and Cheney took him to the wood shed in 7 words.

[Dolphy]

If the President had just to focus on the tragedy of September 11 as he did in the speech you referred to, I think he would have met your expectations. But he had to lay out his plan, probably softening the edges we would have liked to have heard, to combat the media made image of him lacking compassion. He hit his stride about half way though and I reacted like your professor.

[TASMANIANRED]

"I still can't figure this one out. Stop the insanity!"


Just brain dead democrats.

[LS]

Well, I guess I know how well he can perform when he just "talks" to people as in his "town hall" meetings. But no matter, the Fox crew said "home run," and Dickie Morris said it was a speech for the ages. I didn't see it, but he had my vote anyway!

[Savage Beast]

When Zell Miller's speech reaches the rest of the American electorate, Bush will widen the gap even more!

[Bonaparte]

"This poll was of adults, not likely voters."

Huh? From the bottom of article...

"...a random sample of 1,316 adults, including 1,128 reported registered voters and 926 likely voters."

Looks to me like ~half was registered voters and ~half was likely voters (even better).

[p. henry]

As I read it, registered voters are a subset of adults and likely voters are a subset of registered voters.

[Bonaparte]

... and let's not overlook the jobs report that just got released. 144,000 new jobs last month. That's a big improvement on the 26,000 from the previous month. And the unemployment rate is right in line with what it's historically been. A talking point I use in economic "conversations" with liberals is that our unemployment rate is about half that of Europe.

[flashbunny]

and the jobs report from last month was revised upwards by 56,000.

[Bonaparte]

A poll of "adults" makes no distinction as to whether anybody is even registered, let alone a "likely" voter. Obviously, the poll is not measuring the opinions of children, so it goes without saying that all respondants are adults. The important thing here is that this was an unusually large random sample and the sample consisted of both registered voters and likely voters.

[Bonaparte]

So the previous jobs growth was 82,000 not 26,000?

[Dolphy]

I know what you mean about the town hall meetings. A recent one I saw on C-Span was probably the best I've ever seen the President on domestic issues. I hadn't thought of that comparison.

[flashbunny]

Sorry, got my numbers mixed up with something else - the jobs report was revised up 41,000, to 73,000 new jobs in july.

Don't know where I got 56,000 from.

Maybe I was in the mind of an AP reporter and heard something that wasn't there.

[ARepublicanForAllReasons]

and guess who sighs his lullabies, to nights that never end...

My fickle friend, the summer wind!

[HighWheeler]

And if you factor in the 5% media bias in the lib media polls (until a week before thhe election), Bush wins in a landslide.

[Bonaparte]

...the summer wind... warm summer wind...

[Bonaparte]

...the summer wind... warm summer wind...

[Bonaparte]

Thankyou so much, fb!