British Terror Plot Gives GOP A Poll Boost
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Republicans seeking to retain control of Congress have narrowed the Democrats’ lead in voter preferences for candidates to 2 from 9 percentage points in the latest USA Today/ Gallup Poll.
The biggest jump in support for Republican congressional candidates may have resulted from a “mini-surge” in public approval for President Bush’s handling of terrorism after British officials foiled an alleged plot to blow up American-bound airliners, the Gallup survey said.
When voters were asked which party’s candidate they would support in the November election, 47% said the Democratic Party and 45% the Republican Party.The poll was conducted August 18–20. Democrats held a 9% lead in an August 7–10 Gallup survey.
The Democrats’ lead averaged 10 points in three previous Gallup polls conducted since July 6. Democrats, who must pick up 15 seats to take control of the House of Representatives and six to take the Senate, led by 16 points in Gallup’s June 23–25 survey.
The narrowing of the Democrats’ margin in the latest poll is not statistically significant because the margin of error is 5 percentage points, Gallup said. Mr. Bush’s overall approval rating rose to 42% from 37% in the earlier August poll. The margin of error for that poll is 3%.
