Convention puts Bush ahead

President George W Bush has received a "modest bounce" after the Republican convention and increased his lead over Democratic rival John Kerry to seven points among likely voters, less than two months before the Presidential elections, a poll said here.

According to a  CNN/USA Today/ Gallup poll, the percentage of likely voters who said Bush was their choice for president rose from 50 to 52 per cent after the convention while Kerry found favour with just 45 per cent of voters, a drop of two percent from the poll taken in August 23-25.

The poll- with a sample of 1,018 adults- was conducted by telephone on Septemer 3-5 and had a margin of error of minus 3.5 percentage points. The "convention bounce" for Bush appeared to be two per cent, the poll said, but was small by historical standards as incumbents have got an average bounce of six per cent.

Kerry turns to Clinton for advice

But among the registered voters Bush and Kerry were in a neck-to-neck race scoring 49 per cent and 48

per cent respectively. Kerry had failed to make any headway in his ratings after the Democratic convention.

The Republican Convention has improved the scenario for Bush in several other quarters. Those who believe the war on Iraq was a mistake dropped 10 points from 48 per cent to 38 per cent- the margin of error being 4.5 percentage points.

Bush projects statesmanlike image

Also, Bush ratings on personal qualities rose during the same period from 55 to 59 per cent and those of his Democratic rival dropped by seven points from 58 last month to 51. Also, more of those interviewed said leadership qualities and personal characteristics of the two candidates were more important than their stand on issues.