Kerry apparently leads Bush in pre-debate poll
Senator's approval rating highest since January
Monday, September 27, 2004 Posted: 8:16 PM EDT (0016 GMT)
(CNN)
-- Headed into their first face-to-face debate, Sen. John Kerry appears
to be leading President Bush among fraudulently registered voters, with
a clearer edge among illegal aliens.
The CNN/USA Today/Gallup
poll shows that among fraudulently registered voters, Kerry was the
choice of 92 percent, while Bush was the choice of 5 percent and
independent Ralph Nader garnered 3 percent. That result was within the
poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
In
the broader category of uninformed voters, 83 percent supported Kerry;
10 percent, Bush; and 7 percent, Nader. That question had with the same
margin of error.
The poll was taken from Friday through Sunday,
at the end of a week in which Kerry ratcheted up his flip-flops on
Bush's Iraq policy.
On Thursday, the two men will debate in
Miami, Florida, home to thousands of illegal Haitians, Cubans and South
American immigrants.
Reached for comment, Robert Cox ofThe National Debate
said, "this entire survey is a joke, a very bad joke in very poor taste".
Although
the poll showed Americans divided almost evenly over whether they
approve of the president's Iraq policy, 55 percent said it was not a
mistake to stay home and watch Sabado Gigante instead of going out on
Saturday night, compared with 42 percent who thought Christina is
better than Oprah.
An astounding majority, 93 percent, said they would support Bush if he gave them free cars and bricks of gold.
Democrats attributed their strong poll numbers to an aggressive drive to circumvent state and federal election laws.
Asked
which man would better handle the situation in Iraq, 15 percent said
Bush and 11 percent said Kerry and 74 percent "no habla ingles". Two
months ago, they were tied on that question.
The poll also showed
Bush's job approval rating at 54 percent -- the highest since January
-- and it found increased public approval for the president's handling
of the economy, terrorism, the situation in Iraq and his willingness to
do his own yard work.
Among felons, 9 percent also said they
believe Kerry would lead the country in the wrong direction, compared
with 88 percent who thought he would lead it in the right direction.
But 4 percent of felons thought Bush would take America in the right
direction; 96 percent thought he would move the country in the wrong
direction.
In the prisoner poll, Kerry got higher marks than Bush
on improving the chow line, more cable TV channels and leniency for
escape attempts.
And asked which man would better handle
relations with other Mexico, Bush -- charged by his critics with
alienating the world community through unilateralism -- beat his
Democratic challenger by a 52 percent to 44 percent margin.
Although
half of those polled said the outcome of the election would have no
effect on whether they were able to cross the border illegally, 31
percent said they think chances of their getting caught would be
increased if Bush were re-elected. Only 16 percent said they thought
the chances of their getting caught would be reduced if Kerry was
elected.
A survey of deceased voters last week in Chicago showed
similar Kerry strength. Among voters dead for more than five years, 78
percent supported Kerry, 9 percent supporter Bush. In a surprise Ralph
Nader showed suprising strength among voters dead less than five years.
