But for Bush, the flip side of the flip-flop charge is a deepening perception that he is too rigid: By a resounding 58% to 16%, poll respondents said the phrase "too ideological and stubborn" applied more to Bush than to Kerry.
Bill Baggett, a retired accountant in Commerce Township, Mich., said he preferred Kerry's willingness to change his mind over what he saw as Bush's intransigence. Kerry's flexibility, Baggett said, "to me is a sign of intelligence."
Voters also preferred Kerry by about 10 percentage points when asked which man had better ideas for improving the economy and a better chance of building "respect for the United States around the world."
Kerry has established these advantages even while voters are just filling in their portrait of him. More than one-third of them -- and nearly half of independents -- said they did not know enough about Kerry "to decide whether he would be a better president" than Bush. Just 53% said they knew a great deal or even a fair amount about Kerry's domestic policies; only 42% felt that way about his foreign policies.
Yet Kerry has planted some flags with the public. He has been criticized by some Republicans and veterans over his activities during the Vietnam War era, when he enlisted in the Navy but protested the war after returning from combat. But nearly three-fifths of those surveyed agreed that "in his combat missions in Vietnam, John Kerry demonstrated qualities America needs in a president." Just one-third said that in protesting the war, "Kerry demonstrated a judgment and belief that is inappropriate in a president."
Those answers may help explain Kerry's strong showing on what is likely to be a critical test in the election: 59% said they were very or somewhat confident he would be a good commander in chief; just 38% expressed doubts.
One of Bush's assets is some voters' belief that he has been a strong commander in chief on one front: 54% approve of his performance in the war on terrorism.
But on the economy, 54% of voters disapprove of his performance, while 43% approve. That's virtually unchanged from March, despite several months of strong job growth.
Eventually, that growth may boost Bush. But for now, 52% of voters said they believed Bush's economic policies had hurt the economy, while just 22% said his actions had improved it.
