Head-To-Head Numbers

Some interesting recent national head-to-head polls:

Pew Research Center (Aug. 5-10)

Kerry 47 (46)
Bush 45 (44)
Nader 2 (3)

Sample excerpt:

With three months to go until the presidential election, the American public remains largely dissatisfied with economic conditions and with President Bush's stewardship of the economy. Two-thirds rate the national economy as "only fair" or "poor," while just one-third judge it to be "excellent" or "good." Accordingly, Bush gets low ratings for his handling of the economy: 42% approve, 52% disapprove. And by an increasing margin, voters express more confidence in the Democratic nominee, John Kerry, than in Bush to improve economic conditions. Kerry now leads Bush by a wide 52% to 37% margin on the economy, up from a 44% to 39% lead in March.

Gallup Poll (Aug. 9-11)

Kerry 46 (45)
Bush 48 (51)
Nader 3 (2)

Sample excerpt:

The current poll shows that 51% of Americans approve, and 46% disapprove, of the way Bush is handling his job as president. For the last three months, Bush has averaged 48% approval and 49% disapproval. The current figures are a slight improvement for Bush and represent the first time he has been above the symbolically important 50% level since mid-April.

NOTE: Interestingly, this poll leads with the president's approval rating uptick and the two-way race numbers, which show Bush ahead 50-47, "little changed" from the previous poll (51-47) instead of the 3-way race, which shows that Kerry has closed a 6 point gap to 2 points.

Zogby (Aug. 12-14)

Kerry 47
Bush 43
Nader 2

Sample excerpt:

Kerry leads in the Blue States by 17 (54%-37%) while Bush leads in the Red States by 6 (47%-41%). Good news for the President: he is back to attracting 86% of Republicans, while Kerry gets 79% of the Democrats. However, Kerry leads 49% to 31% among Independents. Voters with active passports prefer Kerry 58% to 35%, while those without a passport are for Bush 48% to 39%.

NOTE: In a two-way race, Kerry/Edwards increase their 5 point lead (48-43) over Bush/Cheney before the convention to a 7 point lead (50-43) now.