National Polls Range From Tied Race To Bush Up By Six
National polls out on the eve of the election continue to show President Bush and Sen. Kerry deadlocked in their battle for the presidency. The surveys range from a tie (Gallup, Fox) to Bush up by six points (Newsweek), with several showing the President up by a single point.
With the race so extraordinarily tight, analysts agree that the composition of the electorate will decide the winner. Both sides foresaw the possibility of a very close race some time ago, and as a result they have spent plenty of time and resources building up massive 'get-out-the-vote' operations. While Democrats have traditionally held the advantage in turning out their supporters, Republicans insist that this year they are ready to match.
USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll Shows Race Tied At 49%. USA Today reports John Kerry "has erased President Bush's modest lead and the two candidates head into Election Day tied at 49%-49%, a nationwide USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows as an extraordinarily bitter and expensive campaign prepared to end." Across "the dozen battleground states expected to determine the winner, Kerry holds a 5-percentage-point edge — including small leads among likely voters in the critical states of Ohio and Florida. He trails by a similar margin in the third big battleground, Pennsylvania." The "new survey of 1,573 likely voters, taken Friday through Sunday, has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points."
Bush, Kerry Tied In Fox News Poll.
The New York Times reports on the latest "Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll conducted Friday and Saturday with 1,200 likely voters." It shows "the contest is tied. Both Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry had the support of 46 percent, with 1 percent of those surveyed planning to vote for Mr. Nader."
Bush Has One Point Lead Among Likely Voters In ABC Tracking Poll. ABC World News Tonight said the latest ABC News tracking poll "finds 49% of likely voters supporting President Bush, and 48% supporting Senator John Kerry, a statistical tie. But there is a gap of expectations: 53% of those likely voters expect the President to be reelected. 33% predict a Kerry win."
