Why would he say something so wrong?
He was basing his comments on the Harris and Pew polls which show basically a dead heat.
Here's the AP story.....but remember that AP has blatant anti-Bush bias.
New Poll Shows Bush, Kerry in Virtual Tie
Updated: 10:31 PM EDT
By WILL LESTER, AP
WASHINGTON (Sept. 16) - The GOP convention gave President Bush a double-digit lead, but the race has settled into a virtual tie with voters still worried about the economy and Iraq, according to polling by the Pew Research Center.
The first of two national polls by Pew, done Sept. 8-10, reflected the president's post-convention bounce. Bush was ahead of Democrat John Kerry 52-40 among registered voters and by an even wider margin, 54-39, among likely voters, a narrower group.
By the second poll, done Sept. 11-14, the Bush lead had evaporated. In that poll, Bush and Kerry were knotted at 46 percent among registered voters. Among likely voters, Bush was at 47 percent and Kerry at 46 percent.
"There is a great deal of instability and uncertainty in the electorate," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. "This poll finds a lot of the positive impact Bush had in the convention remains. But Bush's vulnerabilities on Iraq and the economy continue, and these have anchored the race."
After the Republican convention and its well-orchestrated criticism of Kerry, Bush grabbed a lead ranging from 5 points to 11 points in various national polls. That lead appeared to be shrinking in some polls by late last week, and a Harris poll out Thursday showed the race even.
"This gives Kerry an opportunity to stay in the hunt," said Kohut. "Some of the negatives that Kerry accumulated during the Republican convention have worn away."
Kerry's unfavorable ratings increased after the GOP convention but dropped slightly between the two waves of the poll. Fewer voters in the second poll had an unfavorable view of the Democrat, said Kerry is too quick to change his mind, and believed the risk of terrorism would be higher if he were elected.
Bush continues to hold a commanding lead on who would do the best job of defending the country from terrorists by 58 percent to 31 percent. And he's seen by more as a strong leader.
But people are more likely to disapprove of Bush's handling of the economy and are evenly split on his handling of Iraq. Almost six in 10 said it's not clear what Bush will do about Iraq if he is re-elected.
Different polls say different things. This is by no measure over.
He's probable refering to the Pew Poll which has it a dead heat at 47-46 in favor of Bush. http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/politics/9681608.htm
Of course, it could just be that a lot of people were holding their decision and/or weren't paying attention, and the conventions and the Swiftees turned them. And the very fact that Kerry got no convention bounce (even McGovern, Carter, Mondale and Dukakis got a strong convention bounce!) and Bush got a big one is very, very significant, even if Bush's bounce and lead aren't as big as Gallup says. I just can't see the electorate being this volatile, if they were, Bush would have been behind by 15 in the Spring.