Poll finds Bush vs. Kerry is no ho-hum contest [View All]

[Mr_Spock]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/polls/articles/2004/07/19/poll_finds_bush_vs_kerry_is_no_ho_hum_contest/

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. --Seventy-five percent of voters nationwide think it matters a great deal whether President Bush or his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, wins the presidential election, a poll reported Monday.

''This is the farthest thing from a ho-hum election contest,'' said pollster Lee Miringoff, head of Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion. ''Often, people say these things are boring. That's not the case this time.''

Nationally, the poll from the Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based institute found Kerry favored by 45 percent of voters with Bush preferred by 44 percent. An April poll from Marist had Bush at 47 percent and Kerry at 43 percent.

In 17 so-called battleground states where the race may be decided, Kerry was at 47 percent with Bush at 42 percent in the new poll.

''We're seeing a polarization and a high intensity of support and a sense that a lot is at stake,'' said Miringoff.