Bush lead narrowing as RNC hysterics fade

Guest · Posted: 09/13/04 - 04:10 Post subject:

By Brian Braiker
Newsweek
Updated: 3:46 p.m. ET Sept. 11, 2004Sept. 11 - One week after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention in New York, the latest NEWSWEEK poll shows George W. Bush’s double-digit “bounce” narrowing by to six points. Bush-Cheney had enjoyed an 11-point lead over the Kerry-Edwards ticket coming out of their convention, but in the latest poll, taken on the eve of the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the incumbents now lead 49 percent to 43 percent in a three-way race.

With 2 percent of the vote going to Ralph Nader, removing the independent candidate from the ticket has little effect on the spread, with 50 percent of the vote for Bush and 45 percent Kerry. (The sudden shift in the NEWSWEEK poll from last week’s results is dramatic but not unprecedented-in 1988 Michael Dukakis’s 17-point lead dropped to 10 points within two weeks.)

The poll also found that as convention buzz subsides, Bush’s approval ratings have again dropped below the 50 percent mark (48 percent approve, 44 percent disapprove). Bush’s favorability ratings have also slipped slightly, to 52 percent favorable (and 44 percent unfavorable) from 55 percent favorable (40 percent unfavorable). Kerry’s favorability ratings, which had dropped to 45 percent (and 46 percent unfavorable) during the Republican convention have climbed slightly to 48 percent and 44 percent, but still remain lower than they were before the GOP gathering.

Bush lead narrowing as RNC hysterics fade

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