NEW YORK – With less than a week remaining in the race for the White House, incumbent George W. Bush (search) leads Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry (search) by 47 percent to 45 percent among likely voters, according to a FOX News poll released Saturday. The president’s lead is well within the poll’s margin of error.
These new poll results show a slight dip in polling conducted Wednesday and Thursday night when Bush topped Kerry by 50 percent to 45 percent.
Polling was conducted Thursday and Friday evenings, so about half of those interviewed would have had the opportunity to hear reports of a new tape from Usama bin Laden.
Among registered voters, the current poll shows the candidates tied, as was the case in the previous poll.
Opinion Dynamics Corporation (search) conducted the national voter poll for FOX News on October 28-29.
In addition to the party faithful (92 percent of Republicans are backing Bush), some of the president’s strongest support comes from conservatives (72 percent), men (49 percent), married women (50 percent), and voters that regularly attend religious services (54 percent).
Kerry garners support from 86 percent of Democrats as well as from liberals (80 percent), single women (53 percent), and those living in the Northeast (57 percent).
Self-identified independents give the edge to Bush by 44 percent to Kerry’s 41 percent.
• Pdf: Click here for full poll results.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox