Released: September 07, 2000

Gore lead now at 5.4%; Takes slight lead among Independents; Candidates tied among two key swing groups, Two of three say country headed in right direction, new Reuters/Zogby survey reveals

Reuters/Zogby National Poll

Democratic Presidential nominee Al Gore has increased his lead over Republican Presidential nominee George W. Bush in the race for president, according to a new Reuters/Zogby poll conducted Monday through Wednesday.

The poll of 1,001 likely voters nationwide now has Gore leading Bush, 45.6% to 40.2% with 5.1% for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, 1.7% for Reform Party's Pat Buchanan and less than one percent for Libertarian Harry Brown, Natural Law's John Hagelin and Constitution Party's Howard Phillips. Another 6.5% were Undecided. The poll has a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.2%.

In the two-way race, Gore also leads Bush 49.4% to 43.2%.

In a Reuters/Zogby survey released August 21, Gore led Bush 44.1% to 40.9%.

Gore leads among Independents (41.7% to 33.8%) and is solid among Democrats (82% to 9.1%) along with key Democratic groups especially women (53.6% to 33%), union households (58% to 29.8%), African Americans (89.1% to 1.3%) and Hispanics (50.8% to 29.7%). Gore also leads Bush in the (East 50% to 36.2%) and in the West (43.1% to 38.6%). He has a slight lead in the South (47.2% to 40%) and among Catholics (46.2% to 41.3%).

Bush is solid among Republicans (81.3% to 6.5%), Protestants (48.2% to 38.6%) and men (48% to 37%).

Bush and Gore are virtually tied among parents with children under 17 (Bush 45.5%, Gore 42%) and among $25-50,000 income earners (Gore 44% to Bush 44.7%). Since 1972, no president has been elected without winning the $25,000-$50,000 income group.

Bush and Gore also are virtually tied in the Central/Great Lakes region, the location of several key battleground states (Bush 46.7%, Gore 45.4%).

By a margin of 52.3% to 43.1%, likely voters favor Gore's proposal for prescription drugs over the prescription proposal offered by Bush. At the same time, by a margin of 47.9% to 43.6%% likely voters favor Bush's tax cut plan over the tax proposal offered by Gore. Voters were equally split on which candidate had the best solution to save Social Security (Bush 46.9%, Gore 46.5%).

Pollster John Zogby: "This is a very competitive race especially among key swing groups. After early polls showed a wide difference between the two candidates, the gap subsequently closed dramatically. Gore leads among several key issues including prescription drugs, education and campaign finance reform, while Bush shows potential among tax cut and military issues. The battle for Congress also remains close with the Democrats having a lower than tiny lead. Finally, there is a 32-point gender gap in support for the candidates. I guess this year Democrats are from Venus and Republicans are from Mars."