Post-Debate Poll Finds a Slip in Support for Gore
WASHINGTON — A poll taken just after their first debate found that Vice President Al Gore’s support among Democrats was down sharply from a week before but former Sen. Bill Bradley’s rating was almost unchanged, Newsweek said Saturday.
The magazine noted that only 26% of the registered Democrats and “Democratic leaners” in the survey said they had seen, heard or read anything about the debate.
The poll, taken Thursday and Friday, showed that if the race for the Democratic nomination for president remained between just the two men, 40% of party members or sympathizers would choose Gore and 25% Bradley. The week before, Gore scored 49% and Bradley 26%.
Newsweek said its current figures for Democratic preferences could be as much as 6 percentage points too high or too low.
Among registered Republicans and Republican leaners, 63% said they favored Texas Gov. George W. Bush for the party’s nomination, the magazine reported. Bush was followed by Sen. John McCain of Arizona, with 12% backing; Steve Forbes, 9%; Gary Bauer, 4%; and Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, 2%.
Bush’s backing rose 6 percentage points in a week. Newsweek gave the margin of error among Republicans as plus or minus 7 percentage points.
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