Voters Shift in Favor of Kerry

Bush job ratings: National Wisconsin Ohio Missouri Overall job rating Approve 51% 51 48 49 Disapprove 47% 45 48 45

Handling situation in Iraq Approve 44% 45 43 44 Disapprove 55% 51 52 50

Handling war on terrorism Approve 54% 55 55 52 Disapprove 42% 40 39 41

Handling the economy Approve 43% 47 40 42 Disapprove 54% 47 55 49

Phrases that apply to a candidate (among voters nationwide): BUSH KERRY He cares about people like me 35% 47% He will be a strong leader for the country 44% 44% He has honesty and integrity to serve as president 41% 40% He flip-flops on the issues 25% 48% He would be best at keeping the country safe from terrorism 50% 31% He has better ideas for strengthening the nation's economy 37% 48% He will build respect for the U.S. around the world 38% 47% He shares my moral values 45% 36% He has better ideas for handling the problems of cost and access to healthcare. 24% 51% He is too ideological and stubborn. 58% 16%

All results shown are among registered voters. Numbers may not total 100% where some answer categories are not shown. Times Poll surveyed the nation and three Midwest battleground states; the first of an ongoing election series.

How the poll was conducted: The Times Poll contacted 3,665 adults nationwide and in three Midwestern battleground states. Included were 1,230 registered voters in a national sample as well as 566 registered voters in Missouri, 722 in Ohio, and 694 in Wisconsin. All interviews were conducted by telephone Saturday through Tuesday. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges in the nation, and random-digit dialing techniques were used to allow listed and unlisted numbers to be contacted. The entire sample of adults in each sample was weighted slightly to conform with their respective census figures for sex, race, age and education. The margin of sampling error for all registered voters in the nation is plus or minus 3 percentage points in either direction. For registered voters in Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. For certain subgroups in all samples, the error margin may be somewhat higher. Poll results may also be affected by factors such as question wording and the order in which questions were presented. Telephone interviews in Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin were conducted by Interviewing Services of America, Van Nuys.

Source: Times Poll