Bush, Kerry Running Even In Two-Way Matchup - (George Wash. U) Poll

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

June 29, 2004 10:00 a.m.

(snip)

The Battleground Poll, sponsored by George Washington University, found Bush and Kerry running even, with 48% each in a two-way matchup. It also found signs the public is growing slightly more optimistic about the economy.

Kerry has the advantage with voters on issues ranging from Social Security and prescription drugs to jobs and federal spending. Bush leads on handling terrorism and has a slight edge on Iraq and -in this poll -on taxes.

(snip)

"The qualities of leadership are driving the vote," said Celinda Lake, the Democratic pollster who helped produce the poll. "The only issue driving the vote is Iraq. The other things determining the vote are personal qualities." Bush continues to hold the lead he has had for months on strong leadership, on saying what he believes and on being steady and consistent.

Kerry still has problems with voters on "flip-flopping and steady leadership," Lake said. Bush's re-election campaign spent more than $80 million on campaign ads through the spring intended to raise doubts on those fronts. Republican pollster Ed Goeas, who helped produce the poll, said Kerry is stronger than Bush only on one of the qualities tested in the survey -that he cares about people.

(snip)

The poll of 1,000 likely voters was taken June 20-23 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20040629_003116,00.html (but from AP, so should have other links)

n/t