Aug. 25-29, 2004
Kerry 48 (46)
Bush 45 (46)
Nader 2 (3)
Unsure/Other (5)
If you average all of the polls
If you average up the last 9 polls taken. Bush has a .1 point lead. 45.5 - 45.4
This is no time for panic. The Kerry campaign, however, does need to show they are ready for primetime because thus far, they haven't shown that at all. I would not be averse to seeing some new people running the show. But the decline of Kerry's 3 point lead to now a dead even race does not mean that the swift boat stuff has hurt him. It's normal for a challenger's bump to whither away in the wake of the convention.
This should give you some solace. During this same time 24 years ago, Carter recliamed the lead over Reagan.
http://www.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=1252