Bush still leads Gore in latest poll

In an apparent continuing recovery after losing an earlier double digit lead, Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush remains ahead of Democratic rival Al Gore,

according to the latest Portrait of America Presidential Poll.

Bush leads the vice president 43.6 percent to 41.3 percent in the popular vote, POA analysts said, in the most recent tracking poll conducted Sept. 17, 18 and 19.

In the minor-party races, Green Party nominee Ralph Nader still leads with 3.7 percent; Reform Party nominee Patrick J. Buchanan has 1.2 percent; Libertarian Harry Browne has 0.8 percent; Constitution Party candidate Howard Phillips has 0.1 percent, and independent John Hagelin also has 0.1 percent.

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.

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Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, GOP running mate Dick Cheney criticized the Gore-Lieberman ticket on Tuesday in a series of appearances at California schools, calling the Democratic candidates hypocritical for pledging government action against the entertainment industry while accepting millions in campaign donations from Hollywood and industry donors.

Cheney was responding to a Federal Trade Commission report issued last week that found movie, music and video game producers guilty of intentionally marketing inappropriate sexual and violent content to underage teen-agers and children.

Both Gore and Lieberman criticized the entertainment industry after the FTC released its report, but within a week were attending Hollywood fund-raisers and similar entertainment industry venues in New York City.

Also on Tuesday, Bush made an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, chatting with the daytime talk queen about a range of personal and issue-oriented topics. Gore made an appearance on the same program earlier this month.

On Wednesday, Gore planned to renew his assault against major drug companies, charging them with inflating prescription medicine prices and harming senior citizens. Gore has proposed a $250 billion prescription drug program that he said he would add to Medicare if elected.

"I'm not satisfied when drug companies run up profits so high that many seniors just can't pay for the medicines they need," Gore said Tuesday in California.

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