Polls show Bush gathering momentum as Gore avoids seeking Clinton advice

Governor George Bush is moving into what could be a decisive lead over Vice-President Al Gore as the presidential campaign enters…

Governor George Bush is moving into what could be a decisive lead over Vice-President Al Gore as the presidential campaign enters its final two weeks.

Most polls are showing that it is Mr Bush who has momentum - what his father famously called "the Big Mo" - following the three presidential debates which were supposed to demonstrate Mr Gore's greater experience and debating skills.

Some Democrats are calling for President Clinton to be more involved in Mr Gore's campaign as the election seems to be slipping away from him. But a New York Times article, which has attracted a lot of comment, claims that Mr Gore has "hurt" the President by his insistence on keeping him at a distance and his reluctance to seek his advice.

Mr Clinton is said to be dismayed at the advice Mr Gore is getting from his campaign advisers and annoyed that Mr Bush is not being challenged on some of his policy statements.

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Until Mr Gore rushed back to Washington for a national security meeting on the Middle East crisis, he had not been in the White House since last June. The Gore campaign insists that Mr Clinton is doing his part by fundraising but says that there are no plans for the two men to appear together. Pressed by reporters on the apparent coolness between him and the President, Mr Gore said: "This is a campaign I am running on my own. And as I've said on previous occasions, I am who I am."

Polls showing Mr Bush ahead are still within the margin of error so are not conclusive about the state of public opinion at this stage. An exception is the CNN/USA Today tracking poll, which has Mr Bush running ahead of Mr Gore by 11 points at 51 per cent to 40 per cent. It is the biggest lead for Mr Bush since the daily poll began last month.

Mr Bush leads by 48 per cent to 41 per cent in the Newsweek weekly poll, which had Mr Gore leading until recently.

Another closely watched poll for Reuters/MSNBC shows Mr Bush opening up a four-point lead over Mr Gore, the largest since the daily survey began on September 29th.

Mr Zogby, who conducts the poll, said: "Gore has a problem. In addition to not getting his message through, the difference in this race right now is Ralph Nader. If Gore moves to the left with a populist message, he risks losing ground in the vital centre. If he moves to the centre, he will watch Nader's support increase."

Mr Nader, the consumer rights advocate who is the candidate of the Green Party, gets only 5 per cent in the Reuters/MSNBC poll, but he is damaging Mr Gore in vital swing states in the Midwest like Minnesota, where his anti-big business campaign is attracting liberal voters.

Mr Gore is also being damaged in swing states by an energetic campaign by the former movie star, Charlton Heston, president of the National Rifle Association, who is attacking gun controls advocated by Mr Gore. These controls, such as the requirement to license and photograph all new gun-owners, are not popular in states where hunting is a way of life for many.

The Heston campaign denouncing the Gore position is being backed by an intensive TV campaign in Midwest states such as Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arkansas, where hunting is a favourite sport of the blue-collar workers who usually vote Democrat.

But there has also been criticism of Mr Heston's references to sending out a "lynching party" to string up Mr Gore.

The Washington Post yesterday endorsed Mr Gore for president in a half-page editorial. While saying it was not "blind to the risks of a Gore presidency", the editorial found that the Vice-President brought "a maturity, a soundness of judgment and a balance of priorities that would be reassuring in a leader".