Poll Shows Tight Presidential Race
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NEW YORK — A Harris Poll released Wednesday showed Democrat Bill Clinton ahead of President Bush by just five percentage points, a closer race than reflected in other recent surveys.
In the poll based on interviews with 904 likely voters, it was 50% for Clinton and 45% for Bush. The margin of error for the Aug. 26-Sept. 1 survey was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
An ABC News-Washington Post poll taken Aug. 26-30 had Clinton ahead 55% to 36%.
Poll takers say the main reason the surveys are inconsistent is that many voters, particularly independents, are undecided.
Humphrey Taylor, president of the Harris Poll, said the survey found improvement in Bush’s approval rating, with 40% of voters now saying the President is doing an excellent or pretty good job. That was up from 29% in July.
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