Kerry and Bush almost equal among likely voters, as slender majority believes
Bush does not deserve to be re-elected
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest Harris Poll finds
that Senator John Kerry and President George W. Bush are now enjoying almost
equal levels of support. Immediately after the Republican convention in New
York, several polls showed President Bush jumping ahead of Senator Kerry with
a clear lead of between six and 11 percentage points. This "convention bounce"
has now disappeared.
These are some of the results of a nationwide poll of 1,018 U.S. adults
surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive(R) between September 9 and 13,
2004. It seems that the short-term effects of the Republican convention have
worn off. The poll shows Senator Kerry leading 48 percent to 47 percent among
likely voters. Obviously, this small lead is well within the possible sampling
error of the survey (however, it would be incorrect to label even a one-point
lead, as some media have done in the past, a "statistical dead heat").
One reason that President Bush is no longer ahead is that a slender 51
percent to 45 percent majority does not believe that he deserves to be re-
elected.
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