Bush remains ahead in polls

With just eight days before the Nov. 7 election, GOP nominee George W. Bush remains ahead of Democratic rival Al Gore in national polls, though his numbers have fallen off slightly since last week.

According to the

Portrait of America poll released this morning, Bush's lead over Gore remains strong, 47 to 41 percent.

The telephone survey of 3,000 likely voters was conducted on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 26, 28 and 29. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 1.8 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence.

"Bush continues to enjoy a solid lead among male voters, while the race is close among women voters," POA analysts said. "Gore appears to have regained a modest edge among women overall."

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Also, the vice president's "favorability ratings have rebounded a bit since the lows recorded during the debate season," analysts said. "However, only 43 percent of voters have a favorable view of the vice president, while 48 percent have an unfavorable view. For Bush, the numbers are 49 percent favorable and 42 percent unfavorable."

The third-party races are also solidifying, POA said. Green Party nominee Ralph Nader -- busy taking votes away from Gore -- has 4.0 percent; Reform's Patrick J. Buchanan has just 1 percent; Libertarian Harry Browne also has 1 percent; Natural Law Party nominee John Hagelin and Constitution Party nominee Howard Phillips have 0.1 percent each. POA said just 5.7 percent of voters were "not sure" -- the smallest percentage of voters in this group so far this season.

Meanwhile, in

the daily Voter.com tracking poll, also released this morning, Bush's lead has fallen to just 3 points from a high last week of 8 points. The Texas governor leads Gore, 43 to 40 percent -- a figure that is inside the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent, making the Voter.com poll a statistical tie.

The Voter.com poll results are based on 1,000 phone responses gathered over four nights. The Voter.com Battleground poll is part of a series of tracking polls published each weekday until Election Day. The survey is conducted by Democratic pollster Celinda Lake of Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates and Republican pollster Ed Goeas of the Tarrance Group.

"Gore's recent gains appear to have come from increases in support among men and single voters. Among men, Gore picked up four points during the week, but Bush still holds a commanding advantage (48 percent vs. 34 percent)," Voter.com analysts said.

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