CAMPAIGN ’88 : Dukakis Trails in South

Bush holds a 12-point lead over Dukakis among Southern voters, according to a poll conducted by the Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution.

The poll of 2,102 registered voters in 15 Southern and Border states, published in the newspapers’ combined Sunday editions, showed Bush leading in every state. He held a 26-point lead in Florida and a 14-point lead in Texas--both considered key states in the presidential election.

Overall, Bush garnered a 49% to 37% lead over Dukakis in the 15 states included in the survey. The poll, conducted through random telephone interviews last week, had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

According to the poll, Bush leads Dukakis among independent voters by nearly a 2-1 margin, and has the support of 15% of black and Latino voters. The poll showed women supporting Bush over Dukakis by 46% to 37%, and men supporting Bush by 53% to 37%.

Twelve percent of registered voters polled said they had not decided for whom they will vote. Forty percent said they have an unfavorable opinion of Dukakis, while 29% said their impression of Bush was unfavorable.

The states in which the poll was conducted are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.