Everybody on this site probably has seen by now
this:
WASHINGTON -- Last week's Democratic convention boosted voters' views of John Kerry but failed to give him the expected bump in the race against President Bush, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll finds.
In the survey, taken Friday and Saturday, Kerry trailed Bush 50%-46% among likely voters. Independent candidate Ralph Nader was at 2%.
The survey showed Kerry losing 1 percentage point and Bush gaining 4 percentage points from a poll taken the week before the Boston convention.
The change in support was within the poll's margin of error of +/-4 percentage points in the sample of 763 likely voters. But it was nonetheless surprising, the first time since the chaotic Democratic convention in 1972 that a candidate hasn't gained ground during his convention.
USA TODAY extended its survey to Sunday to get a fuller picture of what's happening....
But the article goes on to tell us the internals of the poll which are confusing considering what you just read...
Kerry's acceptance speech Thursday was rated as "excellent" by 26%, a more positive response than Bush got four years ago at his convention. A 44% plurality said the Democrats were "about right" in criticizing Bush; 30% said they went too far.
Views of Kerry's personal characteristics and leadership improved across the board; views of Bush didn't change much. Bush's edge in handling terrorism was shaved to 12 points from 18 before the convention. In a switch, Kerry is trusted more to handle the responsibilities of commander in chief, 51%-46%.
Kerry's military service in Vietnam, a theme of the convention, is seen as a plus. A 52% majority says that experience would help him be an effective president. More than one in four say it makes them more likely to vote for him.
Bush's internals didn't change or dipped & Kerry's speech was seen as better than Bush's speech in 2000 that gave him a 17 point lead over Gore at the time. Also, Kerry is seen by 51-46 as a better commander-in-chief. All the while people are voting for Bush.
BULLSHIT
UPDATE [2004-08-01]
From the LINK provided by tmo
FAVORABLE RATING
KERRY 58
BUSH 52
HANDLE IRAQ BETTER?
KERRY 49(44)
BUSH 47(49)
HANDLE THE ECONOMY BETTER?
KERRY 54
BUSH 43
LEAD THE WAR ON TERROR?
BUSH 54(56)
KERRY 42(38)
MORE HONEST & TRUSTWORTHY
KERRY 48(42)
BUSH 43(42)
STRONG & DECISIVE
BUSH 51
KERRY 42
WHO IS THE UNITER?
KERRY 52
BUSH 39
WHO IS THE OPTIMIST?
KERRY 42
BUSH 41
I also love this:
The current poll suggested Democrat-leaning voters were more enthusiastic about the race, and therefore more likely to vote. But enthusiasm among Democrats already was high, and the poll suggested the four-day Democratic convention energized Republicans as well. Seventy-four percent of Democrats said they were more enthusiastic about voting than usual, up from 68 percent two weeks earlier. Sixty-one percent of Republicans said they were now enthusiastic about the race, up from 51 percent.
So even though we're more enthusiastic to vote, we're losing a net of 6 points when going from registered to likely voters?
