Bush surges in poll

By USA TODAY staff

WASHINGTON — President Bush surged to an eight-point lead over Democratic challenger John Kerry in the latest USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup national poll, giving the president a tie for his largest margin of the year with just more than two weeks left until Election Day. (Related link: Poll results)
In a poll taken Thursday-Saturday, Bush received 52% support from likely voters, Kerry received 44% and independent Ralph Nader received 1%. Three percent of likely voters had no opinion.

The 52% figure is a tie for Bush's largest support number since March, when it first became apparent Kerry would be the Democratic presidential nominee. And the eight-point spread is also a tie for the largest spread since March.

The survey also is a significant swing from the last USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup national poll. In that survey, taken Oct. 9-10, Kerry had 49% support, Bush had 48% and Nader had 1%.

Bush's favorable/unfavorable rating also improved in the new survey. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said they had a favorable opinion of Bush, compared to 44% with an unfavorable opinion. Kerry's favorable/unfavorable rating remained largely unchanged, with 52% of those surveyed saying they had a favorable opinion of Kerry and 45% saying they had an unfavorable opinion.

Bush regained a lead in the poll even though a plurality of likely voters thought Kerry won last Wednesday's debate —47% for Kerry to 35% for Bush.

But the percentage of likely voters who view Bush favorably climbed in the past week from 51% to 58%, while the number who viewed Kerry favorably stayed at the 51% level.

Kerry also finds himself battling the Bush campaign's attempts to label him as too liberal. Among likely voters, half (52%) say Kerry's political views are too liberal. Conversely, 41% of likely voters see Bush as too conservative.

Bush also has a lead in other recent polls. A Newsweek poll released Friday gave Bush 50% to Kerry's 44%; a Time magazine poll released the same day gave Bush a 48-47 edge; Friday's poll from The Washington Post gave Bush a 50-47 advantage and a Zogby poll released Friday gave Bush 48% and Kerry 44%.

The USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll is based on interviews with 1,013 national adults. The poll has a margin of error of between 3% and 5%, depending on the question.

Contributing: USATODAY.com's Randy Lilleston and USA TODAY's Jim Norman


As of today the Zogby poll has it Bush 46%-Kerry 44%.