Gore Voters Moving To President Bush

At the Wall Street Journal, Al Hunt reports that two polls suggest President Bush may attract voters that voted for Gore.

Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney campaign, says internal polls show the president getting about 8% to 9% of the acknowledged 2000 Gore vote. He sees small gains from diverse constituencies: Hispanics, Jews, small-town and rural males and suburban women.

"The common attributes are strength and leadership," Mr. Dowd explains.

Republican polltaker Bill McInturff, relying on surveys involving about 10,000 respondents over the whole year, has a tad different profile of Gore voters who're tilting toward Mr. Bush: "They are disproportionately male and veterans, very religious and very downscale in education and income. Reporters don't run into many of these people."

This bloc, maybe 2% to 3% of the electorate, stuck with Mr. Gore last time because they are basically Democrats and felt the economy was doing well, reasons Mr. McInturff, who is one of two pollsters for the Wall Street Journal/NBC News polls.

Why are they leaning Republican this time? "When I read the open-ended answers we get" on surveys, Mr. McInturff replies, "it's 9/11.

Hunt has more good news for President Bush. The president currently is getting 27% to 28% of the Jewish vote, up from 19% in 2000 and 40% of the Hispanic vote, up from 35% in 2000.