What you might have missed in the most recent Washington Post-ABC News Poll

TO: Campaign Leadership
FR: Matthew Dowd
Chief Strategist
RE: What you might have missed in the most recent Washington Post-ABC News Poll

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Since the general election began in earnest after Senator Kerry all but clinched the Democratic nomination (March 2), the movement between the Washington Post/ABC News polls of March and May is promising. Since March, Senator Kerry has suffered deterioration in nearly every key leadership attribute, while President Bush has stayed the same or increased.

Today, the race is dead even, just as we have maintained that it will roughly stay until the Democratic convention.

President Bush has cut Kerry’s advantage on the economy by 7 points, and gained 7 points against Kerry on who the public trusts to handle Iraq.

Since March, Kerry has lost 23 points on the attribute of “honest and trustworthy,” 18 points on “strong leader,” and 15 points on “understands the problems of people like you.” President Bush’s ratings on these attributes have remained stable since March.

Furthermore:

• President Bush has a 60-point advantage over Senator Kerry on who “takes a position and sticks with it.”
• President Bush has a 17-point advantage on who “can be trusted in a crisis.”
• President Bush has a 16-point advantage on making “the country safer and more secure.”

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Find this item at: http://www.georgewbush.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=2679