Bush Takes Lead Over Kerry, New Polls Show

As worries about the Iraq war and terrorism have pushed ahead of the economy among the public’s priorities, President Bush has edged ahead of Democratic challenger Sen. John F. Kerry, new national polls suggest.

The ABC-Washington Post and CNN-USA Today-Gallup polls, both released Monday, showed Bush with a slight lead over Kerry in a three-way matchup including independent Ralph Nader.

Bush was up 48% to 43% over Kerry among registered voters, with Nader at 6% in the ABC-Post poll. In the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, Bush was ahead 50% to 44% among likely voters, with Nader at 4%.

Over the last few weeks, Bush has wiped out Kerry’s advantage on all domestic issues except healthcare insurance, where Kerry holds a small lead, the ABC-Post poll found. Bush still holds a double-digit lead over Kerry on the war in Iraq and fighting terrorism.

Bush and Kerry are even on who people would trust to handle the economy, at 47% apiece. In early March, Kerry had a 12-point lead on the issue.

The ABC-Post poll of 1,201 adults, including 1,024 registered voters, was taken April 15-18; the Gallup poll of 1,003 adults, including 767 likely voters, was taken April 16-18.

Both polls have margins of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.