Democrat Mr John Kerry has a solid lead over US President George W. Bush among voters nationwide, according to a Los Angeles Timespoll today that cited widespread unease over the country's direction, Iraq policies and the economy.
Mr Kerry, the US senator from Massachusetts, led Mr Bush by 51 per cent to 44 per cent nationally, according to the poll of 1,230 registered voters taken from Saturday to Tuesday.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (Photo by Michael Williams/Getty Images)
The figures dropped with independent Mr Ralph Nader in the mix: Mr Kerry drew 48 per cent in a three-way race and Mr Bush 42 per cent , the poll showed.
Mr Bush campaign strategist Mr Matthew Dowd challenged the poll results as tilted in favor of the Democrats. "It is a mess," he told ABC News. "Bush is leading independents by three, ahead among Republicans by a larger margin than Kerry is ahead among Dems, and we are down by seven? Outrageous."
In the Los Angeles Timespoll, majorities disapproved of Mr Bush's handling of the economy and of Iraq, despite encouraging news on both recently. Fifty-six per cent of respondents said America "needs to move in a new direction" because Mr Bush's policies have not improved the country.
However, in an indication of the race's volatility, the newspaper's polling in three fiercely contested states shows Mr Bush with a double-digit advantage over Mr Kerry in Missouri, with Mr Nader included, and running even with the presumed Democratic rival in Ohio and Wisconsin.
However, majorities in each state say the country should change direction, the survey said. Nationally, 55 per cent of respondents disapproved of how Mr Bush was handling Iraq, while 44 per cent approved his performance. On the economy, 54 per cent didn't approve of the job Mr Bush was doing while 43 per cent did, the survey showed.
The newspaper poll said Mr Bush was stronger on his overall job approval rating - with 51 per cent approving to 47 per cent disapproving - because of high marks for the president on the war against terrorism and virtually unanimous support from Republicans and others who consider themselves conservative.
The Times' nationwide poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, while that of the state polls is 4 percentage points.