Posted on 10/15/2004 11:23:49 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
An opinion poll released today suggested that President Bush may, after all, have won the last of the three televised debates with Democrat John Kerry, giving him a useful boost as the two candidates enter the final straight of the presidential race.
Wednesday's debate in Tempe, Arizona, had been widely seen as a points-win for Mr Kerry, or at best a draw for the Republican incumbent, who had seen his poll ratings slide after a petulant performance in the opening head-to-head. The final debate focused on domestic issues rather than the Iraq conflict, and saw a more relaxed Mr Bush emphasise his faith and crack jokes.
A Zogby poll for Reuters released today showed Mr Bush has opened up a four-point lead over Mr Kerry after a sudden improvement in his showing among undecided voters and a strong response from traditional Republican supporters.
The President led Mr Kerry by 48 to 44 per cent in the three-day rolling poll, which includes one night of polling since the debate - suggesting that any Bush bounce has yet to be fully felt. Before the debate, the two men were dead-heating on 45 per cent each.
The poll of 1,220 likely voters was taken between Tuesday and last night and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
"The good news for the President is that he has improved his performance among the small group of undecideds," said pollster John Zogby, who found six percent of likely voters are undecided. "Nearly a quarter now say that he deserves to be re-elected, up from 18 per cent in our last poll."
Mr Zogby said that the difference between Mr Kerry's 79-per cent support among Democrats and Mr Bush's 89-per cent support from Republicans also should be "worrisome" for the challenger.
"Kerry needs to close the deal with his fellow Democrats," Zogby said.
According to Neilsen Media Research, 51.2 million Americans watched Wednesday's closing debate, up from around 47 million who watched the second debate. Despite competition from two major baseball play-offs, that figure exceeds the ratings of any debate in the 1996 or 2000 campaigns.
Both candidates headed to the swing state of Nevada in upbeat mood yesterday and renewed their battle during separate appearances in Las Vegas over who was best suited to lead the middle class to prosperity.
The focus of the race now turns to less than a dozen crucial battleground states, with Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin and Iowa - where the two men are running neck and neck - all certain to see plenty of the candidates down the stretch.
The Zogby tracking poll found Mr Bush tied with Mr Kerry among Catholics and women voters, and moving slightly ahead with young voters. Mr Kerry still holds a solid lead among older voters.
The poll showed independent candidate Ralph Nader, blamed by some Democrats for drawing enough votes from Al Gore to cost him the election in 2000, with the support of 1.1 percent of likely voters.
Never, never, never stop running!!!
It's pretty sad when even the Brits realize that Bush won the debate and the US MSM says Kerry swept all three.
Keep your pants on. It's not over yet :)
TURNOUT IS THE KEY.....lets all help get the vote out !!!
Kerry "points" always look a lot like lies.
poll **ping**
Remember 2000. It's not over till it's over. And then it may still not be over.
"The good news for the President is that he has improved his performance among the small group of undecideds," said pollster John Zogby, who found six percent of likely voters are undecided. Nearly a quarter now say that he deserves to be re-elected, up from 18 per cent in our last poll."
25 - 18 = 7% more undecideds have just moved to BUSH!
Better add a couple points to Bush to get a more honest result..
I think you mean "pundits"
We need to get out the vote like there is no tomorrow because if Kerry gets in, THERE MAY NOT BE!
I will wait for Nov. 3rd. to do my dancing in the street.
I can live with debate losses followed by an election victory. There is some spin going on now in the aftermath of the Australian election that the socialist Labor Party won the campaign but somehow lost the election. It's the uncanniest thing. Prime Minister John Howard is stupid (sound familiar?) but somehow beat the Labor party like a gong on election day.
Nah. Most pedants are pro-high-taxes on pendants.
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