NEWSWEEK POLL bush/cheney kerry/edwards dead heat

Bush/Cheney in Dead Heat With Kerry/Edwards
in Two-Way and Three-Way Matchups Among Registered Voters

Fifty Percent Favor Embryonic Stem Cell Research;
36 Percent Oppose It

Bush Gains on Handling the Economy, Health Care

NEW YORK, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- In a two-way matchup, the presidential race remains in a dead heat in the latest Newsweek Poll. Among registered voters, Bush/Cheney gets 48 percent and Kerry/Edwards 47 percent of the vote, a two-point gain for the Bush/Cheney ticket from the Newsweek Poll two weeks ago. Among likely voters, the Bush/Cheney lead opens up, 50 vs. 45 percent for Kerry/Edwards and among swing voters, Kerry/Edwards leads Bush/Cheney 39 vs. 33 percent, with 28 percent undecided, the poll shows.

In a three-way trial heat among registered voters, the race is just as close: Bush/Cheney beats Kerry/Edwards 48 vs. 46 percent with 1 percent for Nader/Camejo, the poll shows. That represents a four-point margin swing from the Sept. 30-Oct. 2 Newsweek Poll: Kerry/Edwards led Bush/Cheney 47 vs. 45 percent. Among likely voters, the gap is bigger: 50 percent for Bush/Cheney vs. 44 percent for Kerry/Edwards, with 1 percent for Nader/Camejo. And among swing voters, Kerry/Edwards gets 34 percent of the vote; Bush/Cheney get 33 percent with 5 percent for Nader/Camejo and 28 percent undecided, the poll shows. For this Newsweek Poll, swing voters are defined as those who plan to vote but say they have not yet made up their mind about who to support. Likely voters are determined based on response to six questions about voting intentions, voting history, interest in politics, and knowledge of the voting process.

With the death of actor Christopher Reeve, the topic of stem cell research has surfaced in the campaign. In the Newsweek Poll, 54 percent of registered voters say Kerry would handle stem cell research better than Bush, who got 32 percent of the vote on that issue. Fifty percent of registered voters (and 48%of swing voters) say they favor using federal tax dollars to fund medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos. And of those who favor it, 75 percent say it's because they support scientific progress generally; 21 percent say it's because they have/know someone with disease. Thirty-six percent of registered voters oppose the research (and 39% of swing voters). Of those who oppose the research, 58 percent say it's because it conflicts with religious/moral values; 37 percent say it's not a good use of public money.Among registered voters, 44 percent say the issue of stem cell research is at least somewhat important (14% say very important) in determining their votefor president. Twenty-eight percent say it's not too important and 25 percentsay it's not at all important in determining their vote, the poll shows.

NEWSWEEK POLL bush kerry dead heat full questionaire