Polls say Kerry won debate
2004-10-09 11:26
Washington - Snap polls taken after the second United States presidential election debate late on Friday said Senator John Kerry narrowly beat President George W Bush.
Kerry won by 44 to 41%, according to an ABC News poll taken immediately after the two finished their debate at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, late on Friday.
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll also said Kerry had eked out a win over Bush, 47 to 45%, but in both polls the difference between the two candidates was smaller than the statistical margin of error.
Each poll surveyed 515 registered voters who watched the debate. The margin of error was plus or minus four to 4.5%.
Kerry and Bush renewed hostilities over Iraq on Friday with the Democrat accusing the president of turning his campaign into a "weapon of mass deception" while the Republican said Kerry was dangerously fickle on security.
In front of a television audience of tens of millions of Americans, the two contenders took questions from an audience of 140 voters who said they had not settled on a candidate with less than a month to go before the November 2 election. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA