President Bush is seen as the candidate best suited to handle terrorism and national crises, while Democrat John Kerry (search) tops Bush on handling domestic issues such as health care and Social Security (search). Just as both candidates are viewed as equally likely to inspire confidence in the presidency, there is little change in the tight presidential election, according to a Fox News poll released Thursday.

The national registered voter poll finds the Republican incumbent would receive the support of 43 percent to Kerry's 45 percent, if the presidential election were held today. When independent Ralph Nader (search ) is included, he receives three percent, Bush 42 percent and Kerry 42 percent.

For more on the campaign, click to view Foxnews.com's You Decide 2004 page.

Polling was conducted during a week that included nationwide mourning of former Republican President Ronald Reagan (search), and also showcased President Bush meeting with world leaders during the G8 summit and winning the unanimous adoption of a U.N. resolution on Iraq.

Opinion Dynamics Corporation (search) conducted the national registered voter poll for Fox News on June 8-9.

President Bush's overall approval rating held steady in the new poll, with 48 percent approving and 45 percent disapproving of the job he's doing as president. While there is little difference between how men and women rate the president's job performance, Republicans are about four times as likely to approve as Democrats, and whites are more than twice as likely as blacks are to approve.

The poll finds optimism about the nation's economy and continued majority support for military action in Iraq. On the economy, today 53 percent believe it is recovering, up from 45 percent in late March. A 55 percent majority feels optimistic about the country's economy right now and 38 percent pessimistic, a sentiment that is essentially unchanged for over a year.

"A belief in a strong national economy is crucial to the reelection chances of an incumbent president, and this year is no exception," notes Opinion Dynamics Corporation Senior Account Executive Lawrence Shiman. "The increase in the percentage of the public saying the economy is improving is a positive development for the president."

There are clear differences between groups on the economic outlook. Republicans are far more optimistic about the economy — 78 percent to 40 percent of Democrats. In addition, men are slightly more optimistic than women (60 percent and 53 percent respectively).

On Iraq, 60 percent support the U.S. military having taken action to disarm Iraq and remove Saddam and 34 percent oppose. However, only 39 percent agree that the Iraq war will ultimately make the United States safer, while 46 percent disagree.

Similar to views on the economy, support for the war in Iraq is divided along party lines. Fully 89 percent of Republicans support the action compared to 40 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of independents.

By a large margin, the economy and Iraq are the two most important issues to voters right now, far overshadowing issues such as education and health care.

Overall, the president is seen by more voters as the best candidate to handle defense and international issues, while Kerry gets the nod on most domestic issues. Voters think Bush would do a better job than Kerry on handling the issue of terrorism (by 15 percentage points), a "national crisis" (+14 points), foreign policy (+5 points) and the situation in Iraq (+4 points).

Kerry is chosen over Bush as the candidate who would do a better job handling the issues of health care (by 14 percentage points), social security (+11 points), gas prices (+7 points), education (+4 points) and the economy (+3 points). The candidates receive the same amount of support on handling the issues of taxes.

When looking at candidate quality measures, Bush has an advantage over Kerry on which candidate has the personality and leadership qualities a president should have (46 percent to 35 percent), and also a lead, though smaller, on which one has a more optimistic outlook on the future of the country (42 percent to 40 percent). Kerry and Bush are rated equally on which candidate would "inspire more confidence in the presidency."

Voters have a more positive than negative view of both Bush and Kerry. A 52-percent majority has a favorable opinion of Bush and 41 percent unfavorable. Voters have a more divided opinion of the Democratic candidate, but many are still unable to rate him. Kerry has a 44 percent favorable and 37 percent unfavorable rating, with 19 percent unsure.

"Despite the fact that the campaigns have run negative advertising in many key states, the percentage of the public with an unfavorable view of each candidate is not increasing and has even decreased in the case of Kerry. This may mean recent negative advertising has had little effect," comments Shiman.

Independent candidate Nader fares somewhat worse. Almost twice as many voters hold a negative view of Nader as a positive view (23 percent favorable, 43 percent unfavorable, 34 percent unsure).

With a 68 percent favorable rating, first lady Laura Bush has extremely high popularity. While more voters view Teresa Heinz Kerry (search) favorably (25 percent) than unfavorably (18 percent), more than half (57 percent) either have never heard of the Democratic contender's spouse or have yet to form an opinion of her.

Gas Prices Makes Families Change Plans

The continuing rise in gasoline prices is increasingly causing changes for American drivers. Today 42 percent report changing driving habits or travel plans because of high gas prices, up from 32 percent four months ago (February). At 47 percent, those living on the West coast are the most likely to say they have made changes because of the high prices.

While OPEC and domestic oil producers shoulder most of the public's blame for rising gas prices, more than one in five think the Bush administration is responsible. When asked directly if the president has control over gas prices opinion is split.

Nearly half (46 percent) think the president can control gas prices (20 percent think he has "a lot" of control and 26 percent "a little"), but 48 percent think the president does not have control over gas prices.

Remembering Reagan

After several days of tributes to the country's fortieth president, almost half of Americans say President Ronald Reagan will be most remembered for defeating the Soviet Union and bringing an end to the Cold War (search). Many others (29 percent) think he'll be remembered for his glass-half-full optimistic outlook for the country. Fewer than one in ten think Reagan's legacy will be focused on his domestic policies.

Overall, almost two-thirds of voters today say they supported Reagan's policies and less than 20 percent say they opposed them. In what may be attributable to a rally effect, today even four in 10 Democrats and 69 percent of independents say they supported Reagan's policies.

Polling was conducted by telephone June 8-9, 2004 in the evenings. The sample is 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of ±3 percentage points. Results are of registered voters, unless otherwise noted. LV = likely voters

"Battlegrounds" include the following states: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The remaining non-battleground states are divided into "Red States" (voted for Bush in the 2000 election) and "Blue States" (gave their electoral votes to Gore).

1. – 6. I'm going to read the names of some people. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of each. If you've never heard of one, please just say so.
SCALE: 1. Favorable 2. Unfavorable 3. (Can't say) 4. Never heard of

          ********** SUMMARY CHART **********

     George W. Bush

     John Kerry

     Ralph Nader

     Laura Bush

     Bill Clinton

     Teresa Heinz Kerry

7. If the election for president of the United States were held today, for whom would you vote if the candidates were:
SCALE: 1. Republican George W. Bush 2. Democrat John Kerry 3. Independent candidate Ralph Nader 4. (Not sure/Other) 5. (Would not vote)

TREND:

*Wording: ”Green Party candidate Ralph Nader”

8. If the election for president of the United States were held today, for whom would you vote if the candidates were: (rotate order) 1. Republican George W. Bush 2. Democrat John Kerry 3. (Not sure/Other) 4. (Would not vote)

          TREND:

9. Do you approve or disapprove of the job George W. Bush is doing as president?

10. In the presidential election, let's say the Republican ticket is President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney versus a Democratic ticket of Senator John Kerry for president and Missouri Representative Dick Gephardt for vice president. If the election were held today, which ticket would you support?
SCALE: 1. Republican ticket, Bush-Cheney 2. Democratic ticket, Kerry-Gephardt 3. (Neither) 4. (Not sure)

11. In the presidential election, let's say the Republican ticket is President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney versus a Democratic ticket of Senator John Kerry for president and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean for vice president. If the election were held today, which ticket would you support?
SCALE: 1. Republican ticket, Bush-Cheney 2. Democratic ticket, Kerry-Dean 3. (Neither) 4. (Not sure)

12. What do you think is the most important issue for the federal government to address today?

13. Which political party — (The Republican Party) or (The Democratic Party) — do you think has a better vision for the future of the country?

14. Would you say you feel optimistic or pessimistic about the U.S. economy right now? (If optimistic/pessimistic, is that strongly or only somewhat?)

15. Do you believe the U.S. economy is recovering or not?

16. – 18. Which candidate do you think:
SCALE: 1. George W. Bush 2. John Kerry 3. (Both) 4. (Neither) 5. (Not sure)

19. – 28. Which candidate do you think would do a better job on the following issues?
SCALE: 1. George W. Bush 2. John Kerry 3. (Both) 4. (Neither) 5. (Not sure)

          ********** SUMMARY CHART **********

PAST TREND:     

     The Economy

*Wording: “Managing the country's”

     Gas Prices

     Education

     Foreign policy

     Health care

     The situation in Iraq

     Taxes

     The war on terrorism

     Social Security

     A national crisis

29. Who do you think is most to blame for rising gasoline prices? (Open Ended)

30. Have higher gasoline prices caused you and your family to change your driving habits or travel plans?

*Wording: “…caused you to change…”

31. Do you believe the president has control over gasoline prices? (If yes, a lot of control or only a little control)

32. Do you support or oppose the United States having taken military action to disarm Iraq and remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein? Is that strongly (support/oppose) or only somewhat (support/oppose)?

*Wording: “… United States taking military…”

33. Do you think the U.S. military action in Iraq will ultimately make the United States safer or not?

34. How confident are you that the June 30 handover of power in Iraq will go smoothly?

35. After the June 30 transfer of power in Iraq, do you think there will be more incidents of violence against U.S. military troops and American workers there, fewer incidents or will there be the same number of attacks after the transfer of power?

36. While Ronald Reagan was president, did you generally support or oppose his policies? (If supported/opposed: Did you strongly support/oppose his policies, or only somewhat support/oppose them?)

37. Which one of the following do you think President Ronald Reagan will be most remembered for?