Kerry Gains Independent Voters as Bush Narrows Gap (Update1)

[Nicholas_J]

Kerry Gains Independent Voters as Bush Narrows Gap (Update1)


Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry may be increasing his support among independent voters while President George W. Bush is solidifying his backing from Republicans, polls by the Pew Research Center, the Gallup Organization and Zogby International show.

National polls show Bush narrowing Kerry's lead to between 1 percentage point and 4 percentage points in the past two weeks. Kerry, a four-term senator from Massachusetts, is gaining in Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which are among the 17 to 20 states both campaigns say will be key to the Nov. 2 election.

``Bush is vulnerable in general this election,'' Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll said in an interview Thursday. ``He's had approvals below 50, and he's been losing to John Kerry off- and-on in various polling since March.''

Of the five incumbent presidents re-elected since 1952, all led their challengers in polls from February of the election year, according to data from the Washington-based Gallup Organization. With less than three months until the vote, Bush, 58, and Kerry, 60, have been in a statistical tie since April.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=apH6762sytrI&refer=top_world_news

[marlakay]

1. HAVE TO MAKE SURE THE DEMS VOTE!!

I keep reading there are more of us and if we would just vote it would be a landslide. Must get them to vote. Must must must...I am going to bug everyone I know, especially my 20 something kids!!

[Tarheelhombre]

2. Notice the Gallup spokesman is backpeddling from their own press this week

That stated that Bush was essentially gonna win because his approval rating was above 50% in their own poll. Now, they are claiming that no incumbent wins unless they have been ahead since February of the election year.

[ochazuke]

3. Good memory there.

I think that 50+% approval rating was an outlier, though not by much. I think his real approval rating is recovering from Abu Graib levels, but still under 50%. Maybe 45%-46%.

[59millionmorons]

4. Game, set and match

This is all you need to know.

"Kerry leads among voters who identify themselves as neither a Democrat nor a Republican, by 49 percent to 31 percent, according to an Aug. 12-14 poll by Utica, New York-based Zogby International."