Poll: Bush Vulnerable, but Kerry Undefined
By WILL LESTER
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...&idq=/ff/story /0001%2F20040414%2F1350804799.htm&sc=1131
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush appears vulnerable on several fronts, including support for whether he deserves re-election and worries about the country's direction, but Democratic rival John Kerry has been unable to capitalize on those weaknesses, a bipartisan poll suggests.
The result six months before the Nov. 2 presidential election is a tight race between a vulnerable incumbent and a challenger who has not yet defined himself, according to the Battleground 2004 poll released Wednesday. The survey was conducted by Republican pollster Ed Goeas and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake and sponsored by George Washington University.
Bush and Kerry were virtually tied in the survey, with Kerry at 49 percent support and Bush at 48 percent. When the pollsters asked an open-ended question on who voters supported for president, Bush had a slight lead.
When people were asked who they support but given no choices, 15 percent said they were undecided. That's the same level of undecided voters on that question right before the 2000 election, Goeas said.
``We are starting this campaign right where we finished the last campaign,'' said Goeas.
The poll found Bush retains an advantage on personal qualities like strong leadership, and on such issues as his handling of the campaign against terrorism and the war in Iraq. Kerry holds a slight edge on such qualities as compassion, and leads Bush on handling the economy and health care.
But on the intensity of those feelings, Bush has the advantage, with 38 percent saying they feel strongly for Bush and 26 percent saying the same about Kerry.
That intensity of feeling helps Bush stay close to Kerry despite mixed feelings about his re-election and Kerry's advantage on the economy, health care and Social Security.
``With advantages like this, we should be way ahead,'' Lake said. ``How do we translate Kerry's issue advantages into a lead against Bush?''
The poll was taken before the recent spike in violence in Iraq.
GOP pollster Goeas said it's important for Bush's re-election campaign to define Kerry and turn his softer supporters into opponents. In some other polls, as many as four in 10 people say they don't know enough about Kerry to decide how they feel about him.
The poll suggested Bush supporters feel more intensity in their backing for the president so Democrats will be under pressure make sure Kerry supporters go to the polls.
The poll of 1,000 likely voters was taken from March 28-31 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
On the Net:
Battleground 2004 poll:
www.tarrance.com
04/14/04 13:50
Kerry Says There Is 'Better Way' in Iraq
[size1]By John Whitesides [/size]
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...z&idq=/ff/stor y/0002%2F20040414%2F1716814975.htm&sc=rontz
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic White House challenger John Kerry said on Wednesday President Bush's "stubborn" Iraq policy was costing U.S. lives and money and renewed calls for a broader diplomatic effort to share the burden.
The day after Bush defended his policy in a prime-time news conference and vowed to stay the course, Kerry promised to find "a better way" in Iraq by creating a partnership with the United Nations to rebuild the country and government.
"The approach of this administration has been consistent and stubborn in the way that they persist in the American occupation and in proceeding down its own road," Kerry told reporters after an appearance at City College. "It has made that mistake from day one and it is costing us money and I think it is costing us lives," he said.
Kerry, locked in a tight election battle with Bush in which Iraq has become a key issue, said "we should embrace a much more significant effort of outreach and diplomacy" to build international support and enter a full U.N. partnership. That partnership would save U.S. lives and money and create a more stable government for Iraqis, he said.
"We shouldn't only be tough, we have to be smart," Kerry said. "There is a smarter way to accomplish this mission."
Asked if foreign governments had hardened their opposition to the U.S. role in Iraq too much to rebuild their trust, Kerry said a change in direction would help. "It may take a new president to be able to change the atmosphere in order to be able to accomplish what we need to. I hope not," said Kerry, who denied he was playing politics with the issue.
"I believe there is a better way to share the responsibility for this burden," Kerry said. "I believe it is possible to reduce the costs and the burden and the risk to American soldiers."
Kerry, who voted to authorize the war in October 2002 but has regularly criticized Bush's conduct of it, was confronted at a town hall meeting at City College by Walter Daum, a math professor who said the Massachusetts senator had taken the same approach as Bush.
Protesters held a banner behind Kerry during the event, reading: "Kerry Take a Stand, Troops Out Now."
PULLING TROOPS CAUSES CHAOS
Kerry said pulling troops out of Iraq immediately would lead to further chaos and endanger Americans and Iraqis, and said he would be willing to commit more troops if the Pentagon said it was necessary.
Reacting for the Bush campaign, former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said "Kerry's policy is not a policy" but just a political means of attacking the president. "It's just a lot of criticism and pessimism," Weinberger said. "The United Nations is totally incapable of doing any kind of job as pacifying or removing terrorism from a country like Iraq."
Kerry came to New York for three fund-raisers and to unveil details of his plan to pay for college tuition for students who commit to two years of national service after their education. Kerry's program would give up to 200,000 students who agree to perform key community service jobs four years of free tuition at public universities, and partial breaks to 300,000 students who would work part-time.
"We cannot be a country where all we do is take care of ourselves," he said, adding there was great value in community service and "we need a president who sees that."
He said the estimated $13 billion program would be paid for by overhauling the student loan system, requiring banks to win student loan contracts at auction and reducing their profits.
Kerry was joined at City College by New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rep. Charles Rangel. Clinton, who later joined Kerry on a visit to a Manhattan pre-school, said Kerry had the right combination of "grit and imagination, of understanding and tenacity" for the White House.
04/14/04 17:16