Bush, Kerry neck and neck
2004-07-04 21:36
Washington - President George W Bush and his Democratic rival John Kerry were in a statistical dead heat in their race for the White House, a poll released on Sunday showed.
The Massachusetts senator had a slight lead, with the backing of 45% of respondents against Bush's 44%, according to the survey for CBS television and The New York Times.
That left them running well within the margin of error of three percentage points.
But Kerry was showing a strong lead among self-identified independent voters, polling at 44%, seven points higher than the president.
The party divide was especially strong over Iraq, with 68% of Republicans saying things were going well for the US in Iraq, compared to 22% of Democrats who shared that sentiment.
The opposite question found similar results, with 27% of Republicans saying things were going badly in Iraq, compared to 76% of Democrats.
The survey questioned 1 053 adults by telephone from June 23 to 27.
- AFP