| Survey of 500 Likely Voters March 23, 2004 | Iowa: Kerry 51% Bush 41% | |||||||||||||||||
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March 25, 2004--In
the battleground state of Iowa, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry leads President George W. Bush
51% to 41%. Four years ago, Bush narrowly lost Iowa to Al Gore and
strategists from both campaigns are watching the state closely in Election
2004. In Iowa, Kerry has solidified his base and is supported by 88% of Democrats. Bush is supported by 81% of Republicans. These figures may be a lingering impact from the intense Democratic campaign in the state before Iowa's caucuses. In some ways, however, the President's support is more solid than the Senator's. Eighty-two percent (82%) of Bush voters in Iowa are "certain" they will vote for him this fall. The comparable figure for Kerry voters is 74%.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of all Iowa voters approve of the way Bush has performed his role as President. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove. Just 34% of Iowa voters give the President good or excellent ratings for his handling of the economy. Twenty percent (20%) say he is doing a fair job in this area while 42% say poor. When it comes to the situation in Iraq, 44% give the President good or excellent marks, 17% say fair, and 36% poor. As for fiscal policy, 48% of Iowa voters say balancing the budget is more important than cutting taxes. Thirty-two percent (32%) say cutting taxes is the higher priority. However, when given a choice between cutting government spending and balancing the budget, 50% say cutting spending is more important. Just 39% would rather balance the budget. In fact, 62% of Iowa voters say that they would prefer a federal budget that has a deficit at lower levels of taxes and spending rather than a balanced budget with higher levels of taxes and spending. Given this choice, just 24% opt for the balanced budget. Our first wave of state-by-state polling is currently being released. In Missouri, Bush leads Kerry 49% to 42%. In Minnesota, it's a toss-up with Kerry at 47% and Bush at 44%. In California, Kerry leads by Bush by 9. In Florida, it's Kerry 48% Bush 45%. In Ohio, it's Kerry 45% Bush 41%. In Pennsylvania, Kerry leads a statistically insignificant margin, 45% to 44%. In Michigan, it's Kerry 48% Bush 44%. The telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters in Iowa was conducted by Rasmussen Reports on March 23, 2004. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 4.5 percentage points, with a 95% level of confidence. |
Presidential Tracking Poll--Updated Daily |
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