In the race for the White House, Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush is maintaining a slight lead in the popular vote over Democratic rival Al Gore, as the campaign focus this week has shifted to competing economic and health-care plans.
In the latest
three-day running poll published by Portrait of America, Bush has 43 percent of the popular vote to Gore’s 41 percent, a statistical tie based on the polling data’s margin of error.
Turning to other candidates, Green Party nominee Ralph Nader has 3.4 percent; Reform’s Pat Buchanan has fallen to just 1.0 percent; Libertarian candidate Harry Browne slipped to 0.9 percent; Reform’s other contender, John Hagelin, has 0.2 percent; and the Constitution Party’s Howard Phillips has 0.1 percent.
The latest figures represent a POA poll conducted Sept. 3, 4 and 5. Rasmussen Research conducted the telephone surveys of 2,250 likely voters. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2 percentage points, with a 95 percent level of confidence.
On the campaign trail, Gore is set to propose a 10-point plan outlining his vision for continuing U.S. economic growth while providing for “the needs of all Americans.” Gore said he planned to use the projected $4.6 trillion budget surplus to lower the domestic poverty rate to below 10 percent for the first time, encourage more home purchases and to foster more college graduation.
Gore’s plan also envisions earmarking $300 billion for an “emergency surplus fund” to help pay down the federal debt and eliminate it by 2012 while fully funding Social Security and providing prescription drug coverage for Medicare recipients.
“My cause is hard-working, middle-class families,” Gore told supporters during a campaign stop in Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday. “I’m running to fight for you, and it is for you and your families that I intend to win this election.”
Shortly before Gore began to speak, however, the Bush campaign released a budget analysis by the Senate Budget Committee that appeared to show Gore’s plan as a “budget-buster.”
“Al Gore’s 200-page budget is written in red ink,” said Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett. “Al Gore’s laundry list of Washington spending programs will lead to a $900-billion budget deficit, and his tax plan will force families to hire lawyers and accountants to determine whether they are one of the lucky few who get targeted tax relief.”
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