President George Bush and Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry are running neck and neck in United States voter support, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll published on Tuesday.
Bush and Kerry share a 46-43% support — a tie since the difference matches the poll’s margin of error, but Bush would lead the Democrat by 46-38% if independent candidate Ralph Nader were included in the comparison.
The poll of 1206 adults taken March 10-14 found that while voters have an opinion formed about Bush, they are largely undecided about Kerry, although both men are seen as having leadership qualities.
The Massachusetts senator, by a 57-33% margin, is also perceived as a politician who says what people want to hear rather than what he believes in, while Bush has more people believing he says what he means (51-45%).
Under Bush’s mandate, however, the country is seen as heading in the wrong direction (54%) instead of the right direction (38%).
Bush’s economic policies raise the most concern, with only 38% approving of his record. By a 57-38% margin, voters are uneasy about his ability to make the right decision on the economy.
Kerry is viewed by voters as more likely to succeed in creating jobs and improving the US economy, the poll said.
Bush, however, continued to have the advantage in managing foreign policy and the war against terrorism.
With the upcoming elections, voters’ topmost concerns were the economy (18%) and unemployment (13%), with the war on terrorism (five percent) trailing behind health care (7%).
On Bush’s proposal of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, 59% of the poll’s respondents supported it against 35% who did not, but 56% believed the issue did not merit changing the constitution. ‒ Sapa-AFP