Last Newsweek poll – “Breaking to Bush”

Oct. 30 - After months of the tightest presidential election contest in recent memory, a new NEWSWEEK poll suggests momentum may be moving toward President George W. Bush. As the bitter campaign enters its final days, against the eerie backdrop of a surprise appearance by Osama Bin Laden, Bush’s lead is still
within the poll’s margin of error, but it’s larger than last week. If the election were held today, 50 percent of likely voters would go for Bush and 44 percent would go for Kerry. (Ralph Nader would receive 1 percent.) That compares to a Bush lead last week among likely voters of 48 to 46 percent.

In a two-way trial heat, excluding Nader, Bush/Cheney would defeat Kerry/Edwards 51 percent to 45 percent. Last week Bush led 48 to 47 in the two-way contest.

Interesting internal: although Bush’s job approval is still relatively low, people just do not like Kerry.