An Excerpt from the National Journal's Polltrack today....
Trouble For Bush With Undecideds?
According to the latest data from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/02_reports_releases/report_2004.htm President Bush "made slight gains from the Republican National Convention on two important comparisons with John Kerry among the general public. But his standing among persuadable voters may be worse now than it was in August."
Annenberg's survey, conducted Sept. 3 through Sunday, suggested Bush's slight gains were on the issues of "fighting the war on terrorism" and being "a better commander in chief of the military."
Bush's job approval rating -- both in general and on various issues -- remained essentially unchanged from Annenberg's August polling. However, his ratings dropped among "persuadable" voters. Forty-four percent of "persuadables" said they approved of the job Bush was doing, down from 56 percent last month. On the economy, Bush's approval rating dropped seven points among persuadables; his rating on "handling the situation in Iraq" dropped eight points during that same time period. The number of "persuadable" voters who said Bush "has a clear plan for bringing the situation in Iraq to a successful conclusion" dropped from 30 percent in August to 17 percent in the latest poll.
Annenberg defines "persuadable" voters as "those who are either undecided or say there is a 'good chance' they could change their current preference for Bush, John Kerry or Ralph Nader."