Bush Shaves Clinton Lead as Perot Gains, Poll Finds : Survey: The Arkansas governor’s gap closes to 44% to 34%, while the Texas billionaire doubles his support to 19%, Times Mirror study indicates.

Ross Perot’s surging candidacy and Republican attacks on Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton’s character have slightly narrowed Clinton’s lead over President Bush, according to a new Times Mirror poll, which also reflects changing voter attitudes that could portend a further tightening of the race.

The poll, conducted Oct. 20-22 and released Sunday, was a re-interview of 1,153 registered voters surveyed Oct. 8-12. Clinton leads Bush, 44% to 34%, down from 48% to 35%. But Perot has surged from 8% to 19%, and more of his support came from Clinton than Bush. The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Seventy-nine percent of the electorate maintained their presidential preferences over the 10-day period between the two Times Mirror surveys. But more Clinton supporters than Bush supporters switched to Perot, by a 3-to-2 ratio.

The highest rates of shifting allegiances to Perot were among independents, whites, males, voters with some college training and people living in the West. Clinton’s losses occurred most often among men, Midwesterners and affluent voters.

Bush, who has been trailing badly in most polls since the Democratic National Convention in July--sometimes by as much as 16 to 20 percentage points or more--recently has been telling voters not to be misled by “crackpot” pollsters. His campaign aides cited new polls showing a tightening of the race as evidence the President is poised for a stunning, Harry Truman-like comeback.

In addition to the Times Mirror poll, four other nationwide surveys released Saturday showed Clinton with leads of 5 to 14 percentage points, and Perot third.

Although the new polls have caused some nervousness in Clinton’s camp, his aides said their own state-by-state polls and those conducted by independent sources show Clinton so far ahead in crucial electoral-vote states that the President’s chances of overtaking him appear remote.

Bush has virtually conceded some key states, Clinton aides say, including Illinois, California, Oregon and Washington.

In an NBC interview Sunday, Mickey Kantor, Clinton’s campaign chairman, said the Democratic nominee’s lead has “stayed solid” and that “we see some lid on the Ross Perot vote.” Clinton, he said, still has solid leads in 30 to 34 key states.

Bush campaign chairman Robert M. Teeter, appearing on the same NBC show, said he believes Bush is ahead in 12 to 14 states, is close in a number of others, and “daily we see more states come over to our side and expect to go ahead” and win the 270 electoral votes needed for election.

In the latest Times Mirror poll, Clinton continues to lead in most major categories of voters, although Bush has shaved the margin in several. Clinton leads among every age group, region and education level, and with both sexes, with blacks and whites and in urban and rural areas.

In the latest Times Mirror survey, voters who said they either support Perot or would consider voting for him increased from 29% to 38%, making his potential vote within seven percentage points of Bush’s level. The percentage of voters saying they would either support the President or consider voting for him fell from 48% to 45%.

Clinton’s potential vote remains much higher at 55%, but that’s a drop of seven points before the debates and before Bush began his daily attacks on Clinton’s character.

Voters’ attitudes toward Bush continue to be highly negative, which accounts for his support being consistently in the low 30s in most recent polls. Half of the public still thinks there is no chance that conditions in the country will improve if he is reelected.

In one bright spot in the poll for Bush, however, the number of those who think conditions would improve in a second term increased from 34% to 44% in the period between the two Times Mirror surveys.

Perot’s marked success in recasting his image and Bush’s success in creating doubts about Clinton as a potential President were reflected in a number of the latest poll’s findings.

The number thinking there is a “big chance” that Perot as President would make major mistakes that would hurt the country fell from 40% in the earlier poll to 31%. Those believing Clinton would make major mistakes increased from 25% to 27%.

The percentage of voters naming Perot as the most “unreliable” candidate dropped from 30% in the earlier survey to 17%, while Clinton’s figures on that issue rose from 21% to 32%.

The perception of Perot’s positive attributes improved as well. Perot was increasingly labeled “the most honest and truthful” candidate, increasing from 16% in the earlier survey to 31%; the strongest leader, from 12% to 21%; having the most “new ideas,” from 31% to 44%, and “caring the most about people like me,” from 12% to 26%.

At the same time, voters who viewed Clinton as “a typical politician” increased from 34% to 44%, and those who identified him with the phrase “doesn’t tell the truth” increased from 26% to 37%.

Overall, however, Clinton remains stronger than either Perot or Bush on several issues considered important in forming voters’ attitudes. On the question of “can bring change,” 46% chose Clinton; 28%, Perot; and 17%, Bush.

Clinton leads in “intelligent,” with 29%, to 22% for Bush and 21% for Perot; and in “cares about people like me,” with 38%, to 26% for Perot and 24% for Bush.

While voters’ opinions about Bush’s two challengers have fluctuated, their views about the President have remained fairly constant for months.

Asked who “would use good judgment in a crisis,” 49% chose Bush to 32% for Clinton and 11% for Perot. Bush also topped the “strong leader” category, with 39%, to Clinton’s 31% and Perot’s 21%.

Thirty-five percent of people backing Bush most often cite his experience, while only 19% cite his stand on issues.