Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- John Kerry, a four-term Democratic senator from Massachusetts, pulled ahead of President George W. Bush by 6 percentage points in Florida, the state where the 2000 election was decided, a Quinnipiac University poll found.
Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, would get 47 percent support if the election were held now and Bush would get 41 percent. The two were tied at 43 percent in a June Quinnipiac poll. An American Research Group Inc. poll released last Friday also showed Kerry ahead of Bush in the state, which has 27 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency.
A majority of those polled by Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac said Kerry would do a better job than Bush on the economy and health care. Fifty-one percent of the 1,094 registered voters surveyed said Bush would do a better job fighting terrorism, though Kerry has chipped away at the president's lead on the issue.
``Kerry is seen as the candidate best able to handle the health care issue,'' Clay F. Richards, the university polling institute's assistant director, said in a statement. Kerry ``also is cutting sharply into the perception that the president is the stronger candidate when it comes to dealing with terrorism.''
Florida is among 17 states that Bush won or lost by 7 percentage points or less in the last election. Bush, 58, was awarded the state's electoral votes after the U.S. Supreme Court halted a recount 36 days after the election, leaving the Republican with a 537-vote margin over Democrat Al Gore out of about 6 million ballots cast.
That gave Bush 271 electoral votes to 267 for Gore, who won the national popular vote tally by 544,000 ballots.
Attention for Florida
Florida has been targeted for advertising and candidate visits by both campaigns. Kerry, 60, has campaigned in the state 14 times since the beginning of the year. Bush, whose brother Jeb Bush is governor of Florida, has stopped in the state 24 times since taking office, including seven times this year.
``We've always said that as people get to know John Kerry and John Edwards and get to see what they want to do if they're elected, that they're going to get increasingly interested in our plan and in our campaign,'' Kerry campaign spokesman Phil Singer said. Edwards, 51, a senator from North Carolina, is the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
The Quinnipiac poll was taken Aug. 5-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. About 22 percent of Florida's registered voters didn't cast ballots in the 2000 election, according to Federal Election Commission figures.
Bloomberg.com
Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, would get 47 percent support if the election were held now and Bush would get 41 percent. The two were tied at 43 percent in a June Quinnipiac poll. An American Research Group Inc. poll released last Friday also showed Kerry ahead of Bush in the state, which has 27 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency.
A majority of those polled by Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac said Kerry would do a better job than Bush on the economy and health care. Fifty-one percent of the 1,094 registered voters surveyed said Bush would do a better job fighting terrorism, though Kerry has chipped away at the president's lead on the issue.
``Kerry is seen as the candidate best able to handle the health care issue,'' Clay F. Richards, the university polling institute's assistant director, said in a statement. Kerry ``also is cutting sharply into the perception that the president is the stronger candidate when it comes to dealing with terrorism.''
Florida is among 17 states that Bush won or lost by 7 percentage points or less in the last election. Bush, 58, was awarded the state's electoral votes after the U.S. Supreme Court halted a recount 36 days after the election, leaving the Republican with a 537-vote margin over Democrat Al Gore out of about 6 million ballots cast.
That gave Bush 271 electoral votes to 267 for Gore, who won the national popular vote tally by 544,000 ballots.
Attention for Florida
Florida has been targeted for advertising and candidate visits by both campaigns. Kerry, 60, has campaigned in the state 14 times since the beginning of the year. Bush, whose brother Jeb Bush is governor of Florida, has stopped in the state 24 times since taking office, including seven times this year.
``We've always said that as people get to know John Kerry and John Edwards and get to see what they want to do if they're elected, that they're going to get increasingly interested in our plan and in our campaign,'' Kerry campaign spokesman Phil Singer said. Edwards, 51, a senator from North Carolina, is the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
The Quinnipiac poll was taken Aug. 5-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. About 22 percent of Florida's registered voters didn't cast ballots in the 2000 election, according to Federal Election Commission figures.
Bloomberg.com
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Redneckman:
You guys keep getting your hopes up. Bush hasn't even had his convention yet. Will be some funny shit when the clueless moron Kerry loses by 4 or 5 points. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Can't wait for the debates
You guys keep getting your hopes up. Bush hasn't even had his convention yet. Will be some funny shit when the clueless moron Kerry loses by 4 or 5 points. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Can't wait for the debates
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Redneckman:
Me neither, Kerry with alot of explaining to do with that ultra liberal voting record. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
LOL GW will be like a train wreck in these debates. Maybe they won't happen. GW is to busy
Me neither, Kerry with alot of explaining to do with that ultra liberal voting record. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
LOL GW will be like a train wreck in these debates. Maybe they won't happen. GW is to busy
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mr NJ Sports:
It will be even funnier watching Judy Woodruff commit suicide on the air after Bush wins re-election. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I never really watch her on CNN. Why do you say she is a liberal?
It will be even funnier watching Judy Woodruff commit suicide on the air after Bush wins re-election. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I never really watch her on CNN. Why do you say she is a liberal?
