Bush Tops Democratic Rivals and Buchanan in Magazine Poll

President Bush topped each of the five major Democratic contenders, with Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton his closest rival, in a poll to appear in this week’s issue of Time, the newsmagazine said Saturday.

The poll also found that 46% of those responding said Bush deserved to be reelected while 44% said he did not.

The survey reported that in its matchup question, 47% backed Bush while 31% supported Clinton, a margin of 16 percentage points.

Bush led both Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin by 23 percentage points, former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. by 28 percentage points and former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas by 30 percentage points.

The poll of 734 adults was conducted last Thursday for Time by the firm of Yankelovich Clancy Shulman. Its sampling error was plus or minus 3.6%.

The survey included a question to 334 likely Democratic voters on their preference among the five major Democratic candidates. The biggest segment--24%--answered “not sure.” After that, it was Clinton and Brown tied at 22%, Kerrey 10%, Tsongas 8%, Harkin 7% and “other” 3%. The sampling error was plus or minus 5.4%.

Among 279 likely Republican voters asked who they backed as their party’s nominee, Bush overwhelmed conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan, 79% to 12%. The sampling error was plus or minus 5.9%.